Two Naked
by rufusforever
Summary: Now that Kim and Ron are officially a couple, Kim is insisting on more Just the Two of Us time. Ron is slowly adjusting to this new arrangement, but where does that leave his good buddy Rufus? Complete.
1. Chapter 1

With this I begin my first attempt at writing a KP fanfic. Yep, I'm a newbie.

My goals with this story are a) to introduce a degree of realism (people get hurt, they bleed, they might even die), (b) make a reasonable attempt at staying true to KP Canon (although, as you'll quickly see, I'm not reluctant to bring some real-world bits and pieces into the story), and c) have lots of fun writing it.

As with every chapter to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

Ron stood by Kim's locker late on a Friday afternoon, chatting with her while she gathered her things together to take home for the weekend. 

"Man, I'm beat!" Ron groaned. "It's tough enough dealing with a first full week of Senior-level classes, but to go on three missions is a bit much…."

"…Monday Monkey Fist tried to release all the monkeys in captivity in the U.S.", Kim recalled. "He probably would have succeeded, too, had we not shared his entire plan with the ALF crew assisting him. When they found out he wasn't going to release the monkeys into the wild, ALF bailed and took the command code with them."

"Wade was able to hack into ALF's central computer before they were able to regroup and plan their own release strategy. Now, the release software is booby trapped. If anyone tries to launch the program without entering the correct password, all of the central computer's storage drives will be erased."

"Nasty!" Ron interjected.

"Wade must have been in one of his "moods", because he told me that even if ALF's IT gurus managed to break the password, he has rigged the program so they will have to spend days trying to manually uninstall and reinstall the it."

"Meanwhile, Global Justice agents have been scrambling all over the country to find the remote controlled release devices and destroy them. According to Wade, they expect to be done sometime this weekend."

"Well, that should take care of Monkey Fist and ALF for a while", Ron added.

"Let's see, what did we have to do Tuesday? Oh, yeah, Duff Killigan. The dude gets out of prison early thanks to "Time Off for Good Behavior" and barely has time to make a fresh pot of haggis…"

"Ack! Haggis!" Rufus gagged.

"…in his castle in Scotland before he's off somewhere to create yet another huge driving range or whatever."

"This time it was to turn New Brunswick, Canada, into an enormous seventy-two-hole golf course", said Kim.

"Why New Brunswick?" Ron asked.

"While we were waiting for Global Justice to arrive and escort him back to prison, he explained it to me. New Brunswick reminds him a lot of home, although without the castles, of course. Lately he's grown tired of playing the course on his estate over and over again. Scotland is blanketed with golf courses but they are packed sunrise to sunset."

"So, he decided to create a second course, somewhere he could play if he wasn't able to get a tee time back home. I tried to explain to him that what he did was wrong."

"Yeah, it's always a good idea to ask for permission before you turn someone's province into a golf course", said Ron.

Kim laughed. "Killigan said he didn't need to ask for permission. Besides, he thought he was doing them a favor. All the men do in the province is fish all day and drink ale in the bars at night. He figured they'd love to have something else to do, and would welcome all the tourist money from visiting golfers."

"Well, it sounds like his heart was in the right place, sort of, even if his head wasn't", Ron observed.

Kim went on. "Finally, yesterday afternoon, Wade called me on the Kimmunicator, saying there had been yet another break-in at a top-secret lab on the East Coast. At first I feared that Drakken and Shego had broken out of prison. Wade assured me that Drakken and Shego were still safely locked up in that high-security prison out in the desert."

"Thankfully, it turned out to be a false alarm, but no one bothered to pass along the word to Wade until we had already started our parachute drop to the site."

"Hey, it wasn't a _complete_ waste of time, was it?" asked Ron. "I mean, the Ronster more than _doubled_ his previous time record for free-falling during a drop."

"Well, that's true", Kim replied. "You did manage to wait a whole minute before pulling the cord on your parachute." She grinned. "Just don't get a big head because of it."

"You got a lot of homework this weekend?"

"Yeah, every one of my teachers handed out assignments that are due on Monday. Isn't there some law against that sort of thing?" moaned Ron.

"You wish. I've got a ton of homework, too", agreed Kim.

"Well, let's head home. After I drop you off, I think I'm going to head home and crash on the living room couch 'til dinner. That sound okay to you, Rufus?" Ron asked his naked mole rat buddy.

Rufus slowly emerged from his usual spot inside Ron's cargo pants pocket, stretched while making a long yawn and nodded.

Hand in hand, Kim and Ron proceeded down the high school hallway, out the doors, down the stairs and steered their way toward Ron's car.

"Wanna drive, KP?"

"No, thanks. I'll let you be the chauffer."

Ron walked over to the passenger side of the car and opened the door for Kim. Bowing, he gestured with his arm to indicate that she may enter.

"Such a gentleman!"

"For you, my dear, only the best will do."

Once Kim was seated and buckled in, Ron closed the door, went around the driver's side and climbed it. He started the car and let it idle.

"You know, Ron, I just can't get over how adorable this little car is. The plush interior is so cozy, and I love the sunroof."

"Glad you like the sunroof, KP. You know, it doubles as a moon roof, too."

"Sooo, what could you possibly be hinting at?" Kim asked mischievously.

"Oh, nothing you wouldn't have thought of doing eventually", Ron answered with a wink.

"The only thing I think I would change is the color", Kim continued. "Every time I see that color of green, it reminds me of the time at the carnival a couple of years ago, when you downed six or seven chili cheese dogs, got on that ride and …."

"I know, I know", Ron interrupted, "I threw up on the circus clown and ended up having to pay for his outfit to be dry-cleaned. And there was a double charge on the pants, too. How many times do I have to hear that story?"

"Well, if you end up marrying me, probably at least once a year for the rest of your life," teased Kim with a smile.

"Oh, the sacrifices I will have to make", said Ron with a smile of his own.

Putting the car in gear, Ron slowly drove out the high school parking lot and onto the street.

"The jocks still giving you a hard time over your car?" asked Kim.

"Not as much as before Brick went off to college, but they still yell things like "What did you do, put a sidecar and a roof on your old motorbike?" and "Did you buy that so your naked mole rat could drive it, too?""

"It really doesn't bother me any more."

"Why not?" asked Kim.

"The last two fill-ups I kept careful track of my gas mileage, then compared the results with the miles per gallon ratings for a few of those huge pickups and SUVs the football players drive. Would you believe I'm getting over three times the miles per gallon that they are?"

"That's quite a difference!" exclaimed Kim.

"No kidding. I remember not being too enthusiastic when Dad insisted I get a small fuel-efficient car. Now I'm glad he _did_ insist, especially since I have to pay for the gas."

"He tracked down this model on the Internet. Believe it or not, one of his classmates at NYU owned the hatchback version of this car. Same year but his was white."

"Well, here we are, at the Possible abode. So, any big plans for a Friday night?"

"Now that you mention it", Kim replied, "If a certain handsome young man, refreshed from some crash time, a shower and a good home-cooked meal, were willing to offer to take a certain beautiful young woman out for a movie and a walk in the park, I'm reasonably confident that certain young woman would accept the offer."

"Only "reasonably confident"?" asked Ron, "Why not "quite certain"?"

"Because, I don't want you to take me for granted. That's why."

"Gottcha. I'll call you after supper. Why don't you check the theater's movie schedule at their website to see what's playing tonight. It's your turn to pick."

Kim leaned over and gave Ron a quick kiss, opened her door and climbed out.

Leaning back in the open window, she said, "Let's make tonight semi-casual, okay? I've got a new outfit that I think you will like. Why don't you surprise me with one of those new shirt and pants combos Monique and I picked out for you a few weeks ago?"

"Your wish is my command, my dear."

"Oh, and Ron, remember: no Rufus."

"Aww, he's had a tough week, too. Can't we make an exception just this once? P-l-e-a-s-e?"

"No, Ron. We made this agreement and I'm going to hold you to it. When we go out on a date, Rufus doesn't come along. I love Rufus, too. He's been an important part of our lives for almost five years and he has played a crucial role in our missions."

"You and I are no longer "just best friends"; we're "boyfriend and girlfriend". We need our time alone. Understand?"

"Yeah, you're right", sighed Ron, "Sorry, good buddy. Guess you'll be spending another night with Monique."

Rufus gave Ron a pout look and sulked.

"Uh, Ron, actually, Rufus can't spend the night with Monique. She's doing some overtime at Club Banana, and then she and Felix were planning to go out somewhere."

"So where will Rufus stay then?"

"The Tweebs have wanted to have him over again ever since they watched him help rescue you and Zita from the Everlot game. Sounds like they would like some game lessons from "The Tunnel Lord".

"Okay, just as long as Jim and Tim don't get any more ideas about using Rufus as a test pilot for one of their rockets."

"Not to worry, Ron. The Tweebs know that if they mess this up they will be _so_ busted."

"If you don't hear from me by six-thirty, beep me on my Ronnunicator", said Ron

"Will do. Love you."

Kim waved as Ron's car drove off down the street toward the Stoppable residence.


	2. Chapter 2

As with every chapter before and to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

Strolling up the driveway to the house, Kim heard a loud "Zzzzzz!" along with a pair of all-too-familiar high-pitched cries of pain. Grey clouds of smoke began to billow out the garage door entrance. 

"Oh, g-r-e-a-t", muttered Kim, "What are the Tweebs destroying _this_ time?"

Standing at the garage doorway, she yelled, "Just _what_ are you two doing _now_? From the smell, I'm guessing it's something electronic."

As the smoke slowly cleared, disheveled twins Jim and Tim stepped forward and tried to explain.

"Well, you know Ron gave us his old motorbike when he got his car…"

"…and we thought, rather than try to rebuild the gas engine, we would convert it so it would run off of fuel cells."

"Wade hunted down a refurbished Kimmunicator power cell for us…

"…and we've been trying to design a conversion system that would transfer the power cell energy to the motorbike…"

"…but we're having trouble coming up with a way to control the power cell's output so it doesn't toast the converter."

"So far, we've toasted three converters and scorched six shirts. Mom would be royally ticked if she knew…"

"…but so far we've been able get rid of the shirts and get cleaned up before she gets home."

"You're not going to tell Mom, _are_ you?" the twins said in unison.

"Well, that _depends_", Kim replied.

"Depends on _what_?" Jim asked.

"That _depends_ on whether you two are willing to baby-sit Rufus tonight while Ron and I go out on a date…", Kim answered.

"Oh, _that's_ no problem", exclaimed Tim. "Rufus is still Everlot's "Tunnel Lord", and now that we have all the family computers on broadband, the three of us will have a blast!"

"…a-n-d, you two must keep out of trouble", Kim continued. "If I find out either or both of you have been causing trouble --- and you know I _will_ find out --- Mom gets a full report from me first thing in the morning about your recent escapades."

"Deal?"

"Deal!" shouted Jim and Tim.

"Okay, now get rid of those shirts and get cleaned up", ordered Kim. "Mom called me at school. She has a late surgery that will probably not be finished until close to five o'clock. I have to get several pounds of ground turkey out of the freezer, clean some potatoes and mix up a salad bowl. Guess its meatloaf and baked potatoes again for dinner."

"Again?" moaned Tim. "Why can't we just order pizza like we used to do on Fridays?"

"_You_ know why", Kim answered. "Dad found out at his last physical that his cholesterol levels are way too high. That means he needs to cut way back on fatty foods, like pizza."

"But why do _we _have to cut back, too?" Jim complained.

"Because we're a _family_, Jim. When one family member needs to change his or her diet for health reasons, it's a big support if the rest of the family does, too. Besides, it's not only healthier for Dad; it's healthier for all of us."

"It may be _healthier_", Tim observed, "but it sure don't _taste_ the same."

Kim shooed the twins off to get cleaned up, then headed to her room, dropped off her school stuff, and went downstairs to the kitchen.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ron pulled into the Stoppable driveway, put the car in "Park", engaged the parking brake and turned of the ignition. The motor shut down without any hesitation. 

"Now _that's_ the way it's _supposed_ to shut down", Ron said to himself. "It's taken nearly three months and several bottles of additives, but I guess we've _finally_ cleaned out most of the crud in the fuel system."

Opening his door, he climbed out, grabbed his backpack from behind the driver's seat, and closed the door. Peering toward the house, he noticed a package sitting on the front porch "Welcome" mat.

"Looks like Mom isn't back yet from her classes out at the College," Ron observed. "Well, good buddy, I guess that means you and I have the house all to ourselves."

Ron grabbed the package, unlocked the front door and went in. Setting the package on the kitchen table, he navigated down the hallway to his bedroom, tossed his backpack onto his bed, and headed to the family room.

Descending the stairs, he walked over to the t-v, expecting to find the remote in its usual location on the shelf. Not there. He went over to the couch and fished around the sides and underneath the cushions. Nope, not there either. Was it in one of the lounge chair pockets? Negative.

"I wonder where that could have gotten to?"

Rufus, meanwhile, crawled under the entertainment center, the lounge chair and, finally, the couch. At last he found it. It was standing up on end between the couch and the wall. With a few grunts and groans, he managed to dislodge the remote and, wriggling backwards with the remote between his teeth, pulled it out into the open.

"Tad-da!" he chattered triumphantly.

"Way to go, _Rufus_! Well, since you found it, you get to decide what we watch."

Punching in a memorized channel number, Rufus tossed Ron the remote and climbed up to his accustomed perch atop the back of the coach.

"'The Adventures of Scamper and Bitey'." Ron sighed. "I should have figured."

Ron flopped on the couch, kicked off his sneakers and got comfy. Within minutes both he and Rufus were fast asleep, snoring an octave apart.

* * *

Back at the Possible residence, Jim and Tim had cleaned up and, after doing a double-check of the network connections of all the family computers, were engaged in a road race simulation on the living room PC. 

"Could you two keep it down to a loud roar?" Kim yelled from the kitchen. The ground turkey was thawed, the potatoes cleaned, the salad bowl prepared and the table set. She looked up at the clock. It was a little after five-fifteen. "Come _on_, Mom! I've got a lot to get done before Ron picks me up."

As if on cue, the automatic garage door engaged, and a familiar sounding car slowly pulled into the right-hand spot. The engine shut off and in dashed Mrs. Dr. Possible, still wearing her white hospital jacket.

"I'm sorry, Kimmie. There were some slight complications with the last surgery. I left as soon as I could. Looks like you've got everything ready. Thank you. I'll take over as soon as I get changed and freshened up."

"Is Dad going to make it home for supper?" asked Kim.

"Yes. Your father called me as I was driving home and said he was also running a little late --- something to do with a new space probe --- but he should be here by six o'clock."

"Where are your brothers?" inquired Mrs. Possible.

"They were in the living room playing that road racing simulation. It was rather deafening, so I told them to turn down the volume. Sounds pretty quiet now. They probably have their headphones on."

"But wouldn't we still hear them yelling?" asked Mrs. Possible.

"Good point." Kim replied. "Maybe we should take a look."

Mother and daughter slowly peaked around the corner.

"Well, _that_ explains the quiet," said Mrs. Possible.

"Yeah, I _totally_ forgot about that sound-proof test enclosure Dad brought home for the Tweebs last week. Sure seems to work well. Too bad they don't have portable units they could wear around the house whenever they're home."

"Now, Kim," Mrs. Possible gently admonished her daughter. "You've said yourself that they are not as bad as they used to be."

Kim sighed. "You're right, Mom. I _did_ say that. Once. And I've regretted it _ever since_."

"Oh, I'd better get changed and get supper in the oven." Mrs. Dr. Possible grabbed her white jacket and walked briskly down the hallway to the master bedroom.

Kim climbed up the ladder to her room. She still had plenty to do before seven o'clock rolled around.


	3. Chapter 3

As with every chapter before and to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

Rachel Stoppable turned her late model sedan off the main thoroughfare and down the neighborhood street that led to her family's home. It was the end of a long busy week at the office. Her branch had been chosen to be one of the first to convert from the client software-based banking system to the new web browser-based system, and things weren't going smoothly.

As Assistant Branch Manager, she naturally was chosen to oversee the conversion. So, in addition to her regular responsibilities, she was coordinating this project, and, not surprisingly, brought home with her each night a major stress headache.

Unfortunately, her husband Jonathan was away all week at the Society of Actuaries Annual Meeting down in Orlando. He always knew how to relieve the tension with a long, relaxing neck and back rub. In lieu of that, she tried using the electric massage wand. It helped a little but was no substitute. Her son Ron offered to have his naked mole rat Rufus give her a back scratch, but she politely declined.

Approaching the house, she saw Ron's car parked on the right side of the driveway. She activated the garage door opener, eased her car up the drive, into the garage and shut off the ignition. Exiting the car, she pressed the control button on the wall, and as the garage door slowly closed, she opened the house door and entered.

"Ron? Rufus? Anybody home?" Getting no response, she spotted the package on the kitchen table. "Well, _someone_ has been home. Wonder where those two disappeared to?" She proceeded to her home office just down the hall from the kitchen and stowed her briefcase beside her desk.

Figuring that, if they were home, they'd be in one of two places, Mrs. Stoppable first checked Ron's bedroom. She saw his backpack laying on his bed but no sign of either him or Rufus.

So she walked back down the hallway and descended the stairs leading to the family room. By the time she reached the landing, she could hear the unmistakable sounds of Ron and Rufus snoring.

Quietly crossing the carpeted floor, she paused to turn off the television, continued on and stood gazing down at the two couch occupants. "Those two are quite the pair," she thought. "It's hard to believe it has been seven years since Ron brought Rufus home from Smarty Mart. Rufus was such an ugly little pink thing back then. Just looking at him made my skin crawl. I wanted to tell Ron to take him back, but Ron so much wanted a pet, and a naked mole rat seemed to be the only animal that wouldn't trigger Jonathan's pet hair allergy."

"Looking back, I'm thankful we did get Rufus. He's been a faithful companion --- Ron's "good buddy" --- day and night. Plus, according to Kim and Ron, it was Rufus who saved the day last spring when that terrible Dr. Drakken almost succeeded in taking over Middleton and the world."

"Still, with Ron and Kim's relationship becoming "more than friends", as they put it, I can't help but wonder where Rufus fits into the picture. I know it was Kim who put her foot down about Rufus not going along on their dates, but Ron doesn't seem to be putting up much of a fight. He even hinted a few weeks before school started that he wouldn't mind it if Rufus stayed home sometimes on school days. Rufus clearly wasn't wild about the idea."

"Jonathan and I both like Rufus in our own ways, but we both work during the day, so he would be home all alone. Not that I don't trust Rufus. Once he was house-trained, he's been fairly well behaved. He does have a habit of overeating and getting the newspaper sections out of sequence, but he knows where the bathroom is and Jonathan has learned to tolerate his paper being "pre-read"."

"It's just I think Rufus would get lonely being here all day by himself. Even _he_ eventually gets tired of watching television. Maybe it's time he had a companion. But what would it be?"

Just then, Rufus rolled over, fell off the couch back and smack onto Ron's nose. "Ouch!" Ron yelled, "Rufus, what was _that_ all about?"

Mrs. Stoppable couldn't help but laugh. "Ron, it wasn't really his fault. He just rolled over in his sleep and ran out of room."

"Oh. Hi, Mom. When did you get home?"

"Just a few minutes ago."

"Oh, man! What time is it?"

"Quarter to six, according to my watch. Why?"

"Kim and I are planning to go to a movie and then later maybe take a stroll around City Park Lake. Uh, is that okay with you?"

"Sure, as long as you make absolutely certain you are home by midnight. I don't want to have to drive down to the City Police Station again to pick you two up because you violated curfew."

"Mom, that time we _would_ have been home, but my car had a flat on the way here and I had left the temporary spare in the garage."

"Is the temp back where it belongs?"

"Yes, and, thanks to Dad, there are now four new tires on the car. I also checked the oil and topped the tank before school. So our odds of making curfew tonight look pretty good."

"Oh, yeah, and I think it's Mr. Possible's turn to come get us if we _do_ break curfew," Ron said with a grin.

"So, are you two hungry?" Mrs. Stoppable asked.

"Are we ever _not_ hungry?" asked Ron in reply.

"Come to think of it," said Mrs. Stoppable,"not that I can remember. Let's do pizza tonight. Go ahead and order your usual. I'd like a small cheese and mushrooms."

Mrs. Stoppable, Ron and Rufus climbed up the stairs to the main floor. Ron immediately grabbed the cordless phone and called in an order to their favorite local pizzeria: two extra-large thin crust pizzas with "the works" (one for Ron; the other for Rufus) and one small thin crust cheese with mushrooms.

Since delivery would take around thirty minutes, Ron knew he had time for a quick shower and shave. True, so far there wasn't much to shave, but what there was he didn't want to come between him and Kim later that night.


	4. Chapter 4

As with every chapter before and to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

Kathleen Possible was removing the meatloaf and baked potatoes from the oven when in rushed her husband. They exchanged a kiss while he hurriedly removed his coat.

"Sorry I'm so late, Hon. We're in "crunch time" getting this Venus probe ship-shape in time for the scheduled launch next Saturday. Late this afternoon, while we were testing, a problem was found in the positioning engines."

"Not good?" asked Mrs. Possible.

"Not good _at all_!", exclaimed Dr. James Possible. "If even one of those engines were to fail in route, there would be no way to steer the probe and it would probably just shoot right past Venus and Mercury, straight into the sun."

"Well, let's not worry about things getting burned up and have some supper. Kim was a huge help getting things ready and setting the table. She's up in her room. Why don't you tell her it's time to eat and round up the twins."

"Will do."

James Possible walked down the hall to the bottom of the ladder leading to Kim's room.

"Kim! Time to eat!"

"Okay, Dad. I'll be down in a minute."

"Any idea where the twins might be hiding?"

"Last I knew, Dad, they were playing video games in the family room."

"Playing video games in the family room? Then why can't I hear them? Hmmm. Better take a look."

Taking a few strides back up the hallway, he peaked around the corner into the family room.

"Ah-hah! _There's_ the explanation. I've been wondering when they would get around to trying out that soundproof enclosure."

He walked over to the side of the enclosure, only to find the entrance door was locked. Puzzled, he tapped on the door. The twins showed no response. He gave the door a couple of hard wraps with his palm. Still no response. In frustration, he made a fist and pounded on the door so hard it caused the enclosure to visibly vibrate. Jim and Tim turned around, caught sight of their father, and waved.

Mr. Possible gestured for the twins to come over. Tim opened the door and greeted his father. "Hi, Dad. What's up?"

"Supper is what's up, boys. Go wash your hands."

The twins raced to the bathroom.

James Possible stood for a moment, looked up and surveyed the ceiling. "It never ceases to amaze me how just a few months ago this room _had_ no ceiling. In fact, those two Diablo robots did quite a number on the entire house. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and Jonathan and Rachel Stoppable were so incredibly generous in letting us stay with them until the repairs were completed." He shook his head in wonder and walked back to the kitchen.

Moments later, four out of five Possibles were seated at the dining room table. Only Kim's seat was still vacant.

"Can we eat, Mom? P-l-e-a-s-e?" Jim asked.

"Jim, you need to be patient. We're all hungry, but it's so rare any more that we all eat a meal together."

"What's holding up Kim?" asked Mr. Possible.

"She's got a hot date tonight," replied Tim.

"With Ronald, I presume?" asked Mr. Possible with a grin.

"Who else?" responded Mrs. Possible with a grin of her own.

A rattling of the ladder leading to the second floor followed by rapid footsteps signaled Kim was on her way. Rushing into the dining room, she quickly sat down at her accustomed spot at the far end of the table.

"Sorry for holding things up," she apologized. "Wade called me on the Kimmunicator, just to report on the Status of Things. Then I called Ron to make sure he was running on schedule."

"Well, now that everyone's here, Dr. Possible, would you be so kind as to lead us in the meal prayer?" asked Mrs. Possible.

"I would be my pleasure, Dr. Possible", replied Mr. Possible. "Father God, we again join as a family at the end of another busy week, mindful of all You have given us and Your unconditional love for us. We ask that You bless this food so lovingly prepared, bless our meal together and watch over us in the days to come. Amen."

"Amen!" echoed the rest of the family.

"Let's eat!" yelled the twins in unison.


	5. Chapter 5

As with every chapter before and to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

Ron pushed himself back from the dinner table with a deep sigh of contentment, which was followed by an enormous belch.

"Ronald! Was that _really_ necessary?" scolded Mrs. Stoppable.

"Sorry, Mom."

Another enormous belch was heard from inside one of the pizza boxes on the table. Ron lifted the lid to reveal a very stuffed Rufus laying flat on his back with a rather content look on _his_ face.

"Hey, good buddy. If I can't do it, neither can you. Okay?"

Rufus lazily waved his foreleg in acknowledgement.

"That's a nice outfit, Ron. Did Kim pick it out for you?"

"Actually, Kim and Monique picked it out, along with two others so I could "mix and match", as they put it. I guess Kim is tired of seeing me in the same Smarty Mart shirt and pants day after day. She asked me to "surprise" her by wearing one tonight."

Ron looked at his watch. "Well, looks like Rufus and I had better hit the road. Thanks for the pizza, Mom."

"You're welcome, Ron," replied Mrs. Stoppable. "Would you two please take your pizza boxes and trash out with you and put them in the trash can?"

"Can do, Mom. Grab a box, Rufus."

Rufus rolled himself out of the pizza box, crawled around to the edge of the top lid and flipped the lid over so it was closed. He pushed the box off the table onto a chair, then pushed it off the chair down to the floor. Dragging the box behind him, Rufus followed Ron out the garage door to the trash can.

Ron already had his car idling when Rufus jumped in on the passenger side. "Buckle up, good buddy." Backing it down the driveway, Ron pointed the car down the street to the Possible home and eased down on the gas pedal.

"Now remember, Rufus. You will be staying at the Possibles with the twins. I know. Jim and Tim can get pretty wild, but Kim struck a deal with them and they are pledged to be on their very best behavior. I want you to be on _your_ best behavior, too, okay?"

"Okay", Rufus acknowledged.

"I know you'd rather come with Kim and me. To be honest, I wish you could come, too. But since she and I are officially dating, things are different. She wants our dates to be just us two, and I must admit I'm beginning to see her point. Kim and I are not just "best buds" anymore. We're a lot more than that now."

"So, it's not you or anything you've done, good buddy. I just want you to know that, okay?"

"Okay", replied Rufus.

"You know, in a way it's your own fault. After all, it was you who shoved me and Kim together at the Prom Dance", concluded Ron with a big grin.

"Well, here we are. Now, remember: best behavior. Got it?"

"Got it!" affirmed Rufus.

Ron pulled the car beside the curb and parked. Rufus hopped out of the passenger window and bounded up the sidewalk to the front porch, with Ron following closely behind. Once Ron was on the porch, Rufus wormed his way up Ron's pant leg, up the side of his shirt, down the sleeve and out, settling himself in the palm of Ron's right hand.

"You know, Rufus, we _really_ need to get you a pedicure. Normally that would tickle, but this time it was just a wee bit painful. Good thing Mom begged off on you giving her a back scratch."

"Go ahead. Push the doorbell button."


	6. Chapter 6

As with every chapter before and to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

The Possibles were just finishing up supper when the doorbell chimed.

"I'll get it!" the twins yelled in unison, bolting from the dinner table toward the front door.

"Tweebs!" cried Kim, dashing after them.

Before Jim or Tim had a chance to open the door, Kim had them cornered.

"Have you two already forgotten our little agreement?" she angrily whispered between her teeth. "Get back there and help Mom clear off the table. Otherwise, the deal's off. Got it?"

"Got it…", replied the twins, sulking back down the hall to the dining room.

Kim sighed and turned to view herself in the hallway mirror. Remarkably, everything seemed to still be in its proper place. She did a quick flip of her hair, took a deep breath, exhaled and opened the door.

Waiting on the porch, Ron was absentmindedly surveying the house exterior when he heard the door knob rattle. Focusing all of his attention on the opening door, he beheld a beautiful sight. There stood Kim, wearing a three-quarter sleeve raised stripe woven blouse with a pair of cream-colored slacks and a pair of brown leather flats. Her red hair was down and brushed out and the top two buttons of her blouse were undone, allowing him to see the gold engraved heart necklace he had given her on their tenth "official" date. The inside doorway light produced an almost angelic glow all about her.

"Kimberly Anne Possible, you are absolutely gorgeous!" exclaimed an awestruck Ron.

"Why, thank you, Ron!" Kim stepped out onto the porch, wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss. As she released her grip, her hands slowly slid down his chest, then off to each side as she grabbed his hands and stepped back. "You don't look half bad yourself, handsome."

"I see you're learning to follow my instructions. You're wearing that green polo shirt and khaki pants Monique picked out. They look great on you! That girl sure knows what styles and colors work, even for guys. No wonder Club Banana doesn't want to lose her."

"Well, KP, we'd better get moving if we want to catch the 7:15 showing."

Kim spun around and took a step back in the doorway. "Mom! Dad! We're heading to the movie!"

"You two have a good time!" responded Mrs. Possible.

"Ronald, be sure you get Kim back home before midnight!" yelled Mr. Possible. "Otherwise, that Venus probe set to launch next Saturday may have a passenger onboard!"

"Understood, sir!" Ron acknowledged, shuddering.

Ron was ready to close the front door and escort Kim to his car when he found she would not budge from the porch.

"Something the matter, KP?" he asked.

"Ron, are you forgetting something?" Kim replied.

"What… oh, yeah. Rufus", Ron sighed. "Come on out, good buddy." Rufus reluctantly crept out of Ron's pant leg. Opening the front door once again, Ron, Kim and Rufus entered and walked down the hallway to the dining room.

"Did you forget something, Kim?" asked Mrs. Possible.

"Actually, Ron forgot something. He forgot to leave Rufus here with the Tweebs."

Continuing on to the family room, they found Jim and Tim once again having a loud session of road racing.

"O.K., Tweebs, here's Rufus. You three have fun and remember: behave!"

"Will do!" answered the twins.

Spinning back around, Kim headed back up the hallway with Ron in tow, said goodbye once again to her parents and went out the front door.

Once outside, Kim's pace slowed, allowing Ron to catch up.

"Ron, that was _not_ a good way to start our date", Kim chided.

"Sorry, Kim", Ron apologized.

"Ron, I forgive you. Again. Just don't let it happen anymore. Understand?"

"Affirmative."

"Good. Let's get moving. Your little hidden mole rat stunt hopefully won't cause us to miss the beginning of the movie."

Ron and Kim quickly walked down the sidewalk to Ron's car and climbed in. Moments later they were headed downtown to the local theater.

"So, which movie are we going to see?" inquired Ron.

"Well, frankly, the pickings are rather slim", answered Kim. "I narrowed it down to three: "Cars", "Nacho Libre" and "X-Men: The Last Stand". I've heard "Cars" is kind of dumb and the humor rather crude at times. I know you'd love to see "X-Men" but I'm afraid you would get so into the film that you would tune me out. Besides, you will probably get the DVD when it comes out anyway."

"That leaves us with "Nacho Libre".

"Any picture with "nacho" in the title _has_ to be good", Ron observed.

"I don't know, Ron. Jack Black can be pretty funny, but this time he's playing a Mexican monk who becomes a wrestler to try and save his orphanage. The last time I found a monk to be genuinely funny was Friar Tuck in "The Adventures of Robin Hood"."

"KP, with "nacho" in the title and wrestling in the plot, I don't see how I _wouldn't_ like the movie."

"O.K., then. "Nacho Libre" it is", said Kim.

"Great timing. Here's the theater. Kim, how about if I drop you off out front and go find a parking place?"

"Fine by me", answered Kim.

Pulling up to the curb, Ron threw the shifter into "Park", jumped out and ran around to Kim's door. Ever the chauffer, Ron opened the door, took Kim's hand and helped her out of the car. For his service, he was rewarded with a smile and a kiss on the cheek.

"Kim, here's money for our tickets and some snackage. Make sure to show the ticket office clerk our Student I.D.'s. Grab a couple of drinks --- I'd like a large Coke --- and a large popcorn. I'll park and meet you by the ticket gate."

It being a Friday night, parking was at a premium. However, Ron did finally manage to find a place. Hustling back to the theater, he caught up with Kim at the snack counter. Drinks in hand with a tub of fresh buttered popcorn nestled in Ron's arm, the two passed through the ticket gate, down the corridor to Screen Room #6 and were soon settled into their seats.

The last of the seemingly endless theater ads and film previews was coming to an end. Kim stowed her drink in the seat drink holder. Ron did the same, placing the popcorn carefully on the floor between them.

During the few moments of darkness before the feature began, Ron slid his arm around Kim and gently pulled her close to him. Kim leaned into Ron's shoulder, the crown of her head coming to rest just below his ear. Her left hand found his right leg.

Simultaneously, they took deep breaths, exhaled and slowly relaxed, their bodies melding into each other.

As the film opening appeared on the screen, these two young people, two teen heroes, two long-time best friends were very much in love.


	7. Chapter 7

As with every chapter before and to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

A serious online session of "Everlot" was taking shape at the Possible home. Jim was on the PC in the twins' bedroom, Tim was using the computer in the den, and, in the event Kim found anything out of place, Rufus was assigned to the workstation up in Kim's bedroom.

The plan was for Rufus, the "Tunnel Lord", to accept Jim and Tim's online personas as nameless "Apprentices". Under this arrangement, the two Apprentices would be given training by the Tunnel Lord at his castle. Once they had completed their training, they would each be christened, then accompany him as he journeyed throughout "Everlot".

As is often the case, the training proved to be much more arduous than the twins anticipated. More than once they each had to start over from the beginning. However, after a little more than thirty minutes, both Apprentices had at last completed their training and were ready to be christened.

Typically, the names would reflect in some manner the strongest attribute shown during training. Following the traditional customs, first Jim's Apprentice knelt before the Tunnel Lord, who used the flat of his sword to christen the Apprentice, touching first his right shoulder, then his left.

"You are an Apprentice no more", spoke the Tunnel Lord. "Arise! Henceforth, you will be known as "James the Swift"".

Moving next to Tim's kneeling Apprentice, the Tunnel Lord performed the same christening ritual, touching first the right shoulder, then the left.

"You are an Apprentice no more", spoke the Tunnel Lord. "Arise! Henceforth, you will be known as "Timothy the Resourceful"".

With their online personas trained and named, Jim and Tim were excited to begin their journey through "Everlot". An IM from Rufus indicated he had something else in mind.

"HUNGRY!" read the message that popped up on both twins' screens.

"That makes two of us, Rufus!" read Jim's IM reply.

"Three of us!" chimed in Tim's IM.

"Tim, go call Rufus down from Kim's bedroom. I'll head to the kitchen and see if I can roust us up something to eat."

The sound of four little legs could be heard descending the ladder rungs and scampering down the hall.

"Hey there, Rufus! Let's hit the kitchen and see what's to eat."

Entering the kitchen, they were rather surprised to find their parents leisurely seated in the breakfast nook, munching on pretzels and sipping ice tea while playing a game of Scrabble.

"Mom! Dad! What's going on?" asked the twins in unison.

"Well, your father and I are playing a game", answered Mrs. Possible.

"I can see that, Mom", said Tim. "But why Scrabble? Can't you play that online now?"

"Yes, Tim, you _can_ play it online", replied Mr. Possible. "Since you three were monopolizing the computers, we decided to find something to do "off-line"."

"Besides, your father and I have always liked to play Scrabble. In fact, we played it on our first date, right Dear?"

"How could I ever forget that? It was the worst drubbing I had ever experienced. Of course, you getting two seven-letter triple-word scores had a lot to do with it."

"Uh, okay," said Jim. "Mom, is there anything we can snack on?"

"There's lots of fruit in the drawer in the refrigerator, and I believe there's another bag of pretzels up in the cabinet."

"I meant _besides_ that", Jim said.

"Check the cabinet. I seem to recall there being a box of microwaveable popcorn packs. They have been around for awhile and really need to be eaten. Go ahead and make two packs. I wouldn't mind having a little. How about you, Dear?"

"Sounds great!" answered Mr. Possible, "I've been good today, so a small bowl of popcorn shouldn't be a problem."

Tim hopped up onto Jim's shoulders so he could reach the cabinet door.

"Use the stepstool, boys!" commanded their father, "That's what it's there for."

"Yes, sir", acknowledged the twins in unison.

Tim jumped down. Jim pulled the stepstool out of the kitchen closet, and Tim climbed up, grabbed two popcorn packs and tossed them down to Jim. Rather than climbing back down, Tim leapt off the top step and landed so hard that the impact shook the entire room.

"Tim!" cried Mr. and Mrs. Possible _and_ his brother.

"Oops. Sorry, Mom and Dad. Guess I wasn't thinking and got a little carried away."

"I should say so", replied Mr. Possible.

"Why don't you microwave that popcorn so you can get back to your game?" suggested Mrs. Possible.

"Good idea, Mom", replied Jim, giving a disapproving sideways glance to his brother.

In a matter of minutes three large bowls and two small ones were filled to overflowing with fresh-popped popcorn. The twins and Rufus grabbed drinks from the fridge and headed back to their computers to commence their journey in "Everlot".


	8. Chapter 8

As with every chapter before and to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

Maybe it was the movie. Maybe it was the soothing, comforting sheltered feeling she always experienced whenever she snuggled in Ron's arms. Or, maybe it was that she was just plain tuckered out. Whatever the reason(s), about a half hour into the film, Kim's eyelids got heavier and heavier until, at last, she fell fast asleep on Ron's shoulder. 

Normally, Ron would have welcomed this turn of events. He cherished the times when he could hold Kim close to him while she rested or slept, feeling her heartbeat, hearing her calm, measured breathing, sensing just how much she loved him and how much he loved her as well.

There was one slight problem: he had already downed his large soda, and was sensing a rapidly growing need to pay a visit to the Men's Room.

"Oh, man. Between the soda I drank at dinner and the one here, my bladder is about to burst. What am I going to do? I really don't want to wake Kim, not until the movie is over, anyway."

"Okay, Ron, think! Treat this like a mission. What are your options? Use my soda cup? That might have been tolerated when I was a toddler, but I seriously doubt theater management, not to mention the folks sitting around us, would be so understanding now that I'm eighteen."

"I could try and hold it until the end of the movie. Yeah, right, Ron. You're about ready to explode now. Imagine what you'll be like in another hour or so."

"That leaves me with only one option. Somehow, I've got to slide my arm out from behind Kim while slowly easing her upright in her seat, all while not waking her up. Piece of cake."

"Well, here we go…"

Ever so slowly, Ron leaned to his right, causing Kim's neck to straighten. Twisting his waist, Ron continued to lean his upper torso to the right, which in turn resulted in Kim sitting straight up in her seat.

"So far, so good. Like I said, a piece of cake."

Just as Ron was thinking this, Kim stirred, mumbling something in her sleep. Ron froze in position, hoping that if he held still she would not awaken. It took a few minutes, but Kim's body gradually relaxed once again and her breathing became measured.

"Whew! Way to go, Ron. You almost blew it."

"Hmm… I wonder what she's dreaming about right now."

Ron craned his neck to see Kim's face. It had a very peaceful look, with the hint of a smile.

"Well, whatever it is she's dreaming about, it must be something good. I sure hope I'm the one causing her to smile."

Returning to the task at hand, Ron slowly leaned further to his right. Meanwhile, he ever so carefully began to ease his right arm out from behind Kim's shoulders and neck. When his arm was about half way out, he paused, then slid his hand up behind Kim's head and gently turned it a little to the right. Finally, he pulled out his hand.

"Mission accomplished. Ron, you are "The Man"!"

Ron had little time to celebrate. The dam was about to burst. He quickly jumped up, shuffled his way to the left down the aisle of seats, up the stairs, then down the ramp, out the door and down the hallway.

Moments later, a loud reverberating "Ahhh….!" could be heard from the Men's Room.


	9. Chapter 9

As with every chapter before and to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

After about fifteen minutes of journeying through Everlot with the Tunnel Lord, James the Swift and Timothy the Resourceful were getting rather restless. They had figured a journey with the Tunnel Lord would be filled with lots of action and adventure, but so far they had had little of either.

The only action they had experienced thus far was the rescuing of a damsel from a brash young dragon. While the damsel was definitely pretty, and her family unquestionably rich, she was a whinny, self-centered motor mouth. Worse still, she was an insomniac.

After a week's worth of 24/7 chattering and sleep deprivation, the dragon had decided that the anticipated ransom was not worth further torture. He was ready to have her as a side dish for dinner when the three journeyers arrived on the scene.

A blast from the Tunnel Lord's horn announced their arrival. At the sound of the horn, the dragon was at first annoyed that his meal had been interrupted. Then, realizing the opportunity handed to him to rid himself of the damsel with little if any backlash from her family, he gladly postponed dinner.

Although he would have gladly handed over the damsel without a fight, the dragon's pride and reputation necessitated that he at least feign resistance. So, he flew out to meet the Tunnel Lord, who had approached the mountainside alone.

The dragon roared his acceptance of the Tunnel Lord's challenge to battle, then, as he and the Tunnel Lord were a distance away from the damsel and the two other journeyers, he spoke in a low voice, "Tunnel Lord, I know well your reputation here in Everlot. I would be a fool to presume I could defeat you in battle. In truth, I am desperate to rid myself of this damsel. She talks day and night without ceasing, and I have had precious little rest since carrying her to my cave."

"Therefore, I will gladly release her to you. All I ask in return is that you do battle with me for a short time, so that I might retain my pride and reputation in these parts. Now here is what I propose we do…"

The dragon carefully outlined his proposal step-by-step.

"Young dragon, you are wise beyond your years. Yes, I agree to your proposal."

"Excellent! Let the battle begin at the sounding of your horn."

The Tunnel Lord rejoined his two traveling companions.

"What took so long?" asked Timothy. "I always thought that challenges to battle in Everlot were like those in pro wrestling: short and loud."

"Nay, lad. Challenges here can be lengthy affairs, sometimes lasting many hours. There is more to be done than simply shouting "I'm gonna take you down" back and forth several times. Rules of battle must be agreed upon. That is how we spent most of our time."

"You two shall stay here. I will fight the dragon alone."

"Why can't we help?" protested James and Timothy.

"Because you were not included in the rules of battle. Besides, I believe for now you gain much more observing than fighting."

The Tunnel Lord inspected his gear. Judging that all was in order, he raised his horn to his lips.

The attention-grabbing sound of the horn echoed across the field of battle and could be heard by people and wildlife miles away.

The Tunnel Lord rapidly marched across the field of battle toward where the dragon was hovering some one hundred feet above the ground. As his foe approached the midway point, the dragon ascended another one hundred feet, then began his descent, accelerating faster and faster the closer he came to the ground.

As he swooped down upon his foe, the dragon spouted flame at the Tunnel Lord. However, because he was keeping a safe distance from the Tunnel Lord's sword, the dragon's flame fell short of its target.

This same sequence, with minor deviations, was repeated four more times.

On the sixth swoop, the dragon inexplicably swerved to within striking distance of the Tunnel Lord's sword. The Tunnel Lord's sword came down hard across the dragon's back, only just before the blade struck, he intentionally twisted his grip so that the flat of the blade, not the edge, made contact.

The dragon crashed in a heap and lay on the ground moaning and groaning.

James and Timothy ran up, yelling, "Finish him off! Vanquish the dragon from Everlot forever!"

The Tunnel Lord shook his head. "Nay. The dragon has pleaded for mercy. Mercy I have given him. In return, he has pledged his life to me and has promised that, whenever I have need of his services, he shall come without delay."

"You actually believe him?" exclaimed James. "While I make no claim to be an authority on dragons, I do know that you should never trust them to stay true to their word."

"That is what I have heard as well", added Timothy. "Why should we expect this dragon to be any different?"

"Your points are well taken. However, I am a reader of hearts, whether it a man's or a beast's, and, odd as it may seem, I see in this young dragon a true heart. He can be trusted to keep his promise."

"I also foresee that in the days to come, he will prove himself to be indispensable on our journey through Everlot."

At that moment, a voice from the real world could be heard loud and clear.

"Jim! Tim! Time to wrap things up and get to bed!"

"Aww, Mom! Can't we stay up until Ron picks up Rufus?" responded Jim.

"No. You've both had a busy first week of high school, plus the J-V soccer tryouts start at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. You do want to make the team, don't you?"

"Yeah, but from what I hear we should be shoo-ins", said Tim.

"Don't be too sure about that. Remember, you two tested out of 8th grade over the summer. You're freshmen academically, but still 8th graders physically."

"Can we have ten more minutes, Mom? P-l-e-a-s-e?" Jim pleaded. "The Tunnel Lord had just defeated a dragon and we want to see where we'll be headed next on our journey."

"O.K. Ten more minutes but then get to bed. And don't forget to brush your teeth… thoroughly!"

"What about Rufus?" asked Tim.

"He seems to be behaving himself, so I don't see any reason why he can't stay on Kim's computer until she and Ron get here."

Turning their attention back to Everlot, Jim and Tim were relieved to see they had not missed anything.

"What shall be done with the damsel?" inquired James.

"We will escort her back to her family's castle, and then continue our journey", replied the Tunnel Lord.

While they were speaking, the dragon managed to struggle to his feet. The three journeyers began the trek to the dragon's cave, with the dragon hobbling along behind them. At the ledge in front of the cave, the dragon thought it would be best if he not be seen by the damsel. With obvious difficulty yet without making a sound, the dragon became airborne and slowly flew around to the far side of the mountain.

Approaching the cave's entrance, the damsel was nowhere to be seen. Timothy called out, "Lady, the Tunnel Lord has defeated the dragon! We have come to take you to your home!"

Moments later an attractive young lady emerged from the cave. Both James and Timothy were quite taken by her beauty, which was still very much apparent even after spending a week cooped up inside a filthy dragon cave. Then she had to spoil it all by speaking.

"It's about time you showed up! What took you so long? I've had to spend seven entire days in this awful dragon's cave, waiting for someone to rescue me. Do you have any idea what that's like?"

"Nay, my Lady. I cannot say I have had such an experience", said the Tunnel Lord.

"Well, now that you've finally rescued me, don't you think it's a good idea to take me home?"

"Yes, my Lady. That is our very intent."

"So, just how are you planning to get me home? I'm certainly not going to walk!"

"My Lady, while we ourselves travel by foot, we have brought from the castle a donkey on which you may ride. It is tied up at the base of the mountain."

"A donkey? You have got to be kidding!"

"Would my Lady prefer to walk?" asked James.

"No. I would rather ride in my carriage."

"Unfortunately, my Lady, we could not bring your carriage", replied Timothy. "As you may recall, it was smashed to bits by the dragon moments after he kidnapped you."

"Oh, that's right. sigh Very well, then, let's stop wasting time and get going."

"If you would prefer, my Lady, James and I can take turns carrying you down on our backs."

"I'm quite capable of climbing down on my own, thank you."

"As you wish, my Lady."

The four began their descent. Several times the damsel stumbled and would have fallen had it not been for James, who was in front of her, or Timothy, who was behind her. After each stumble they again offered to carry her on their backs, and each time the offer was curtly refused.

By the time they reached the fields at the base of the mountain, the damsel's feet and legs were so sore and bruised that she actually welcomed the opportunity to ride on the donkey.

Meanwhile, the dragon had flown back around to the cave entrance. Crawling as deep into the cave as possible, the dragon did a celebration dance, shouting "Y-e-s! She's gone! I'm free! I'm free! I'm free at last!"

"Did you hear something?" asked the damsel. "It sounded like the dragon shouting."

"Nay, my Lady", replied the Tunnel Lord. "It was only the wind."

The journey back to the castle was uneventful. Nevertheless, by the time they reached it, the three journeyers were exhausted from having to listen to the damsel give them what seemed like a minute-by-minute account of her time in the dragon's cave.

An invitation to stay the night at the castle and replenish their supplies in the morning for the next leg of their journey was gladly accepted.

They had but one request: to be spared any more contact with the damsel. The request was empathetically granted.

"Alright, boys", broke in Mrs. Possible. "Your ten minutes are up. Time to get to bed."

"Okay, Mom," answered Jim. He sent an IM to Tim saying it was bedtime, and another to Rufus, thanking him for the fun night in Everlot, inviting him to come back soon, and saying he was welcome to stay online until Ron picked him up.


	10. Chapter 10

As with every chapter before and to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

Feeling very much relieved after his mad dash to the Men's Room, Ron rewarded himself by buying a second large Coke at the concession stand and then he headed back to his seat.

Kim was still sound asleep. After some internal debate, Ron decided to caress Kim's left hand rather than try to reach around and pull her head back onto his shoulder.

"Nacho Libre" turned out to be as hilarious as advertised. Even though he tried to muffle his laughter, once or twice Ron's guffaws were so loud they caused Kim to stir.

With the credits rolling, Ron made another much more leisurely trip to the Men's Room. Returning to his seat, he bent over and whispered in Kim's ear, "K-i-m. Time to wake u-p."

Kim's eyes slowly opened. "Is the movie over?"

"Yeah, it's done. It was really good, but I think you needed the sleep more than the movie. We can always watch it together when it comes out on DVD."

Kim rubbed her eyes, stretched and yawned. "What time is it?"

"My watch says nine-thirty. How about we hit Bueno Nacho and then head over to City Park Lake?"

"Sounds great, but can we do the drive-thru and eat at the park?"

"Whatever you say, my dear."

"I'll go freshen up a bit in the Women's Room and meet you outside, okay?"

"Okay. Your ride and chauffeur will await you out front."

The Women's Restroom was all but empty, so it didn't take Kim long to freshen up. A little lip gloss, a quick makeup inspection and a brush of the hair and she was ready to go.

Heading toward the theater entrance, she thought "I am so thankful I dozed during the movie. It seems like every time we go out, one or both of us ends up falling asleep just when things are getting intimate. If anyone falls asleep tonight, it won't be me."

Exiting the theater, she found Ron parked in front as promised, passenger door open, ready to usher her into her seat. Yes, it was terribly old fashioned. So what? She thoroughly enjoyed it, and Ron seemed to genuinely enjoy doing it, even in bad weather.

Once Kim was securely buckled in and her door closed, Ron bounded over to the driver's side, climbed in, put the car in gear and headed to Bueno Nacho. He knew he didn't have to hurry, as Bueno Nacho's drive-thru was now open until midnight.

A few minutes later, they were parked beside the drive-thru ordering speaker phone.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I'd like a steak and cheddar fajita, two beef tacos and a large Coke. Kim, what are you hungry for?"

Kim leaned across Ron's chest and called her order. "I'd like a chicken taco salad --- hold the sour cream --- a large ice tea with lemon and a large virgin strawberry margarita." As she leaned back in her seat, she whispered in Ron's ear, "That last item is for us to share."

"Will that be all?"

"Yes."

"Your total is eighteen dollars and thirty-seven cents. Please drive up to the window."

Ron confidently pulled out his wallet and opened it. Thumbing through the contents, his confidence gave way to dismay.

"Oh, man! I only have three fives!"

"No big, Ron. I brought some money along, just in case. Here's another five. Consider it payment for the margarita."

"Thanks, Kim."

Ron drove around to the drive-thru window and handed the cashier the four fives. When he was given his change, he offered it to Kim.

"You can keep it, Ron. Put it in your "Date Fund" jar when you get home."

Their three drinks came first. Sodas went in cup holders in the center console, while the margarita Kim slid into her door cup holder "for safe keeping". Not long after came the two bags of food, which Ron relayed to Kim, who stowed them on the floor in front of her.

Ron pulled the car out of the Bueno Nacho parking lot and headed across town to City Lake Park.

Knowing it would be a good ten minutes until they reached the lake, Kim decided to make herself comfortable. Grabbing two large pillows from the back seat, she scooted herself around so her back was up against the door, using one pillow as lumbar support and the other as a headrest. She kicked off her flats, peeled off her hose and stretched her legs over the gap between the seats onto Ron's lap.

"Well, what do we have here? Two pretty little feet with ten cute little wiggly toes. Hmmm. I seem to recall seeing these somewhere before; not too long ago in fact."

"I would think you would remember them. You couldn't leave them alone Wednesday night on the flight back from that lab. If you weren't tickling my feet, you were counting my toes. The only way I got you to stop was by threatening to airdrop you over South Dakota. You developing some sort of foot fetish?"

"Only for yours, my dear. Only for yours."

"I can leave them alone now, if you'd like."

"No, now you can give them all the attention you want. Just be sure to keep your eyes on the road."

Using his left hand, Ron began massaging Kim's left foot, starting with the toes, gradually working his way back to the heel.

"Ooooh! Ahhhhh! Mmmmm!"

Then, on the base of her foot, he lightly traced the letters "I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U-!" one at a time.

"Brrrrrr! You trying to give me goose bumps?"

"Uh-huh. I was also trying to send you a coded message. Did you get it?"

"Oh, I got it alright. I love you, too."

Switching over to Kim's right foot, Ron repeated the sequence: toes, ball of the foot, instep, then finally the heel.

"Oooooh! Ahhhhh! Mmmmm!"

Figuring he was on a roll, Ron started working his hand up Kim's right ankle and, after a little maneuvering of the slacks leg, up the calf.

Kim bent over and gently clasped Ron's left hand with her right.

"Whoa there, handsome", she purred. "How about we save some for later, okay? There's still almost two hours left before you need to get me home, time enough to eat, take a nice walk around the lake, and still squeeze in some more of that."

"Promise?" asked Ron.

"Oh, do I promise", cooed Kim.

* * *

Yes, believe it or not, there are drive-thru Mexican restaurants that serve margaritas, both regular and virgin. Don't believe me? Do a search on Google for drive-thru margaritas. There are not many, but they do exist. Middleton's a progressive town, so why not? 


	11. Chapter 11

This is by far the longest chapter in the story so far, and I'm planning for it to stay that way. It's about ninety percent back-story, my take on how Ron and his family ended up settling in Middleton. That's why the chapter is so long. Give it a read and let me know what you think. Chapters Twelve and Thirteen will mainly focus on Kim and Ron (and yes, there will _finally_ be a little action). After that, I expect there to be one chapter, maybe two, followed by a postscript.

As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

With her husband Jonathan at his convention, Ron out on a date and Rufus over at the Possibles, Rachel had the house all to herself. Five whole hours of freedom! Before she could indulge, though, she went back over her normal Friday night task list. 

"Dishes washed, dried and put away and kitchen cleaned. Check. Laundry folded and put away. Check. Saturday shopping list prepared. Check. Bills paid. Check. Oh, how I love on-line bill paying! Well, that takes care of everything. Now for a little "me time"!"

Most people, especially Rachel's generation and older, have some favorite childhood activity that they have never outgrown, one that can be depended upon to whisk them away, if only for a few minutes, from the troubles and cares of adulthood. For some it might be doing Yo-yo tricks. For others it might be kite flying. For still others it might be skipping rope.

For Rachel Stoppable, that childhood activity is taking a long, hot-as-you-can-stand-it, soak-until-you-turn-into-a-prune bubble bath.

In the main bathroom, she started the bath water, adjusted the Hot and Cold until it was "just right" and poured in a generous amount of her favorite bubble bath liquid. While the tub filled, she gathered up her night gown, slippers, some reading material, the battery-powered digital timer from the kitchen and the cordless phone.

Even though the opportunities were few and far between, she had the routine memorized. The digital timer would be set for one hour. That way, if she happened to doze off (which she usually did), the timer's alarm would wake her before she developed a kink in her neck. The cordless phone had a Caller ID screen so that if someone called while she was in the tub, she could decide whether to answer it or let it go to voice-mail.

Her arms loaded down, she retreated to the bathroom and closed the door. The mirror over the sink was all steamed up. In a moment of pure silliness, she wrote on the mirror "R.S. & J.S. Forever" and traced a big heart around the letters.

The bubbles were nearly overflowing the tub. All was ready. After undressing, she stepped into the tub with her left leg. "Ooohhh!" The water temperature was p-e-r-f-e-c-t. She then brought her right leg into the water. "Aaahhh!" Finally, she turned and ever so slowly lowered herself into the tub. "Ooohhh! Aaahhhh!"

As she relaxed in the tub, scooping up mounds of bubbles in her two hands and blowing them up in the air, the worries and stress of work slowly evaporated and in their place she could plainly see all her many blessings:

Jonathan was a hardworking, faithful and loving husband and father. To others he seemed rather plain, even boring. But she knew better. There was a side to him only she has ever witnessed: a passionate, playful and sometimes delightfully unpredictable friend and lover. He was without question her best friend and she was his as well.

Ron wasn't the most gifted teenager academically or athletically, but, as he has shown again and again on his missions with Kim, he was a loyal, trustworthy and, especially of late, very brave young man. She was immensely proud and thankful to have him as a son.

And then there was Rufus, the de facto fourth member of the Stoppable family. What's to be done with Rufus?

With images of the world's most famous naked mole rat dancing in her head, Rachel Stoppable slipped into a restful slumber, her head propped up on a sponge pillow in the back-right of the tub.

While Rachel was enjoying a blissful bubble bath, her husband was enduring the second hour of the Actuaries Convention's obligatory Friday Night Formal Social.

"The food's great, if you don't mind standing in line for forty-five minutes. The open bar's great, too, if you happen to drink," Jonathan commented to no one in particular. "What I can't figure out is, with all the self-conscious health-conscious items at the buffet and on the restaurant menu, why is it so difficult to find some bottled water in this place?"

Never much of a socializer, Jonathan tried to make small talk with those seated at his table. Unfortunately, the recorded band music blaring from the stage sound system, in concert with nearly a thousand convention attendees all talking as loud as possible just to be heard, made light casual conversation impossible.

Jonathan looked at his watch again: seven twenty-five. Groan. Still another thirty-five minutes before the dance, when he could excuse himself, go up to his room and crash for the night. With a deep sigh, Jonathan took a couple more sips from his bottled water and returned to his intense study of the tablecloth pattern.

A sudden open-handed blow between his shoulder blades caused the water already in Jonathan's mouth to shoot out his nostrils, while his open water bottle went flying across the table, dousing the poor soul seated opposite him.

"Well, just who do we have here?" bellowed a voice that sounded vaguely familiar.

Jonathan spun around in his chair and looked up.

"N-o-o. It _can't_ be! Bob Zimmerman?"

"The one and only! (in the actuary business, anyway)"

"My word! I haven't seen you since… since we both graduated from NYU!"

"That would be correct, my friend. It's been a l-o-n-g time. Too long."

"How did you find me? How did you even know I was here?"

"The answer to the second question is easy: I simply scanned the posted list of convention attendees out by the Registration Desk, looking for familiar names. Yours happened to be one I recognized. After all, there aren't too many Jonathan Stoppables around."

"As for the first question, you never could turn down free food in college, so I figured there was a good chance you'd be here tonight. Believe me, it wasn't easy finding you. I've been casing the place since six o'clock and was just getting ready to give up the search when I spied you about six tables away."

"Well, I'm sure glad you saw me, Bob. Where have you been? What have you been up to all these years?"

"Things are just a little on the noisy side here, Jon. How about we move on over to the Sports Bar across the way and try to find ourselves a booth? Then we can bring each other up to date."

"Sounds good to me, Bob. Let's go."

After apologizing to the person across the table, Jonathan followed Bob to the Sports Bar, where they found a reasonably quiet booth along the back wall. Bob ordered a micro brew. Jonathan decided to throw caution to the wind and ordered a Diet Coke "on the rocks".

They flipped a coin. Whoever called it correctly could choose whether to go first or second. Jon won the toss and elected to go first.

"So what has "Jon the Man" been up to all these years?"

"Well, as you might recall, Rachel and I were dating when the three of us all graduated that spring from NYU. I wanted to hold off proposing until after I landed that first job. With the recession, jobs were pretty scarce. I was staying with my folks while Rachel stayed with her parents."

"Things weren't looking too promising. I applied at several firms in the Metro Area, and few more Upstate. I even put in some applications in Philly, Providence and Boston. Aside from two or three phone interviews, all I got were a bunch of letters saying "Thank you for your interest in our firm. Unfortunately, we have no open positions at this time, Yada yada yada."

"Then, one day, out of the blue, one of my NYU professors --- you remember Dr. Kassmeier? --- called my parents' house while I was out. When I got back I called him. He said he had a lead on a position that he thought would be a great fit for me. The only problem was it was way out west, in a town called Middleton."

"I certainly wasn't in any position to be choosy, so I called the number he gave me. They asked me to fax them my résumé, and less than a week later I was flying out to Middleton for an interview. Frankly, I thought I did a terrible interview. They apparently thought otherwise, because I had a message waiting for me when I got home, asking to call. I called and they not only offered me the job but were willing to give me my desired starting salary."

"Needless to say, I was stunned. I asked them if I could have a little time to talk to my family about it and get back with them the next day. They said that wouldn't be a problem."

"Right after I hung up, I called Rachel and asked if she had any plans for lunch. She said her lunch schedule was rather full, but she thought she _might_ be able to squeeze me in."

"We ate at a little sidewalk bistro a few blocks from her parents' place. I told her I had been offered the job. She was thrilled; practically knocked me over in my chair giving me a huge hug and kiss. Once she calmed down a little, I reminded her that it would mean moving away from our families, from the City and everything we had grown up with over the years. She said that she had thought and prayed long and hard ever since I faxed my résumé, and she felt a deep peace about the move."

"So, it was decided I would accept the job. When I said I would call them in the morning, she said, "Why wait? Call them right now!" Since I couldn't come up with any reason _not_ to call, I paid for our lunch and we took a walk around the corner to a phone booth."

"While I dialed the phone, Rachel hugged me from behind. I accepted the job and agreed that I would start work in two weeks. As soon as I said that I sensed I had goofed, because Rachel released her hug, sulked over to a nearby bench and flopped down."

"After I hung up, I went over to the bench and sat down. "What's wrong, honey?""

""What's wrong? You mean to tell me you don't _know_ what's wrong? Incredible! Do you realize what you just did? You agreed to start your new job in two weeks. Two weeks! How on earth do you expect to get everything done in two weeks?""

"I knew exactly what she was driving at, but I decided to play dumb. ""I guess I don't understand. What all is there to do the next two weeks before I start?""

""Arrghh! Jon, you can be such a _dunderhead_ sometimes! I'm going _with_ you, remember? You? Me? M-a-r-r-i-e-d? There's no _way_ we can plan and pull off a wedding in two weeks.""

""We could always elope.""

""Jon, that is not _even_ funny. Oh, there's another small detail you seem to have forgotten. Comes before the wedding. Comes before the engagement, for that matter. Starts with the letter "p". Three guesses, but the first two don't count.""

""Starts with the letter "p". Hmmm. That's a toughie. Could you maybe give me another hint?""

""You're pushing your luck, Stoppable.""

"I figured I had better quit messing around. From the tone of her voice, I could tell I _was_ pushing my luck."

""O.K. Close your eyes. Come on, close them. Are they closed? Good. No peeking.""

"As quietly as I could, I dug into my pocket and pulled out a small felt-covered box. I opened the box, placed it in the palm of my right hand and held out my hand in front of her."

""Now, open them.""

""Jon! It's beautiful! It must be worth a _fortune_!""

""A small fortune, actually. It's probably worth, oh, somewhere in the neighborhood of, say, ten grand.""

""Ten thousand dollars? Jon, you don't have that kind of money, and you certainly couldn't buy something like this on credit. Come on. Where'd you get it?""

""Believe it or not, it's a family heirloom. Extended family, that is. It was part of an inheritance my grandfather received years ago from his uncle. When my grandfather heard I might be getting married soon, he gave it to me. He said he wanted me to use it as my engagement ring.""

"Getting down on one knee, I looked up at Rachel, into those big brown eyes that were now welling up with tears, "I know in some ways this is merely a formality, but… Rachel Daniella Goodman, will you be my wife?""

""Why do you ask, Jonathan?""

""Because I want to build a life with you; raise a family with you; spend my twilight years with you.""

""I thought you would never ask! Jonathan, I would _love_ to be your wife.""

"I removed the ring from its box and slipped it onto Rachel's finger. Helping her to her feet, I figured we'd have a nice, traditional engagement kiss. Boy, was _I_ wrong! She jumped into my arms, wrapped her arms around my neck, her legs around my waist, and planted such a big, long kiss on my lips that I nearly passed out from lack of breath."

"So, Jon, how exactly did you manage to squeeze everything into two weeks?"

"I didn't. After considerable debate, Rachel and I decided that I would fly out to Middleton to start my job and on my off-hours go house hunting. Rachel stayed with her folks and, with more than enough help from both families, it only took two months from start to finish planning and preparing for the wedding. I flew back for the ceremony and afterward Rachel flew with me out to Middleton."

"We had to delay our honeymoon for a few months until after we were settled into our new home. The following March we took an extended weekend off and spent it at the lodge on Mount Middleton. Nine months later, our son Ronald was born."

"Sounds like you two _really_ enjoyed that honeymoon."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"With Ron coming along so quickly, Rachel and I had a major decision to make: would she work part-time, full-time or stay home? Thankfully, we both graduated with no debt to speak of, and with my salary and the low cost of housing in Middleton, we were able to afford a fairly nice three-bedroom house. So, finances would not be an issue."

"After a week of talk, thought and prayer, we took a Sunday afternoon stroll around Middleton's City Park Lake. I felt it was her decision to make, since it would have a huge impact on her career. She felt that we should decide together, since it would greatly affect both of us."

"It came down to "What is our gut feeling?". To be honest, my gut feeling was that she should stay home until Ron was ready for school, but I was reluctant to say it. I could sense she was hesitant to share her gut feeling, too. So, we took the easy way out. We flipped a coin."

""Heads" would mean I had to share first. "Tails" would mean she would. I flipped the coin, caught it and slapped it on my wrist. Very slowly, I lifted my hand and let out a great big sigh. It was "tails"."

"Rachel took a few moments to gather herself together. Meanwhile, I braced myself for the worst, figuring there was no way she would want to stay home full-time until Ron was ready for school."

"Clearly laboring to speak, she said, "My head and the culture say I should work at least part-time, so I can start climbing up the career ladder right away. My heart tells me there will always been time for work, but this may be the only opportunity I ever have to raise a child of our union from in the womb until he finally leaves the nest. That's a risk I don't want to take. I want to stay home at least until Ron is ready to attend pre-school.""

"I was so relieved I nearly fainted. She turned to me and said, "Okay, Mr. Stoppable, now it's your turn.""

"I didn't know what to say. The odds of her wanting to stay home were to me so small that I didn't even bother to plan for that scenario. With nothing prepared, I had no alternative but to wing it."

""You know, it's funny, but my head and heart were saying pretty much the same thing. Ron could be our only child. I've always wanted to have a big family, but God may have other ideas. The only thing I know for certain is we have Ron, who needs all the love and nurturing we can give him.""

""So, are you saying you think I should go to work or that you want me to stay home?""

""I'm saying that I would _love_ it if you would be willing to stay home.""

"I was barely able to get those words out when she launched herself at me. This time she _did_ knock me off the bench, landing right on top of me. Tears were streaming down her face, but I could see in her eyes and in her smile that she was very, very happy."

"So, with the decision made, Rachel stayed home while I worked my way up at the office. It didn't take very long for that decision to be affirmed. Ron wasn't a sickly child by any means, but when he did get sick the illnesses tended to be longer than expected and sometimes pretty intense. Rachel and I were so thankful she could be there to nurse him back to health."

"Still another affirmation came about a year after our move to Middleton. Rachel was at the bank late one morning when the branch manager came up to her, introduced himself and asked if she could come into his office for a moment."

""Is something wrong, Mr. Millbyer? My husband and I are very careful with our checking account balance.""

""No, Mrs. Stoppable. It's nothing like that. Please sit down. Actually, I had heard from a reliable source that you are a recent graduate with honors from the Stern School of Business at NYU. Is that correct?""

""Yes, sir, that is correct.""

""And I have also heard that you have chosen to stay at home with your son until he's ready for pre-school. Am I right?""

""Yes.""

""Now, Mrs. Stoppable, I'm not going to question your decision to stay home. In fact, I would like to commend you for making that choice. It's not an easy thing to do in this day and age.""

""However, it's not every day that a graduate from a prestigious business school comes to live in Middleton. It's an opportunity that simply cannot be missed. I would like to present to you a proposition. You don't have to answer now. By all means, I would expect you and your husband to discuss it and give it some serious thought before answering.""

""Here's my proposal: my Assistant Manager and I are already swamped with work, and our home bank is now in the process of going to a fully-connected computerized system. That, of course, means more work for us. What I would like to do, and I have already obtained approval for this from my superior, is have you, from home, work with the Assistant Manager on keeping up with the day-to-day administrative paperwork.""

""We would need to have you come in for parts of a few days to familiarize yourself with branch operations. There will also likely be a need every so often for you to come in for some additional training, updating or simply for the three of us to sit down over a lunch to evaluate how things are going. While you are here at the branch, your son can stay at the small private daycare center just across the street, and the bank will pick up the costs.""

""I will be candid with you. Our bank has never before attempted this sort of work arrangement. There are some in Administration who are openly skeptical that such a work-from-home arrangement can work with a bank. So, this in effect is an experiment, and you and I along with my supervisor would all be under the microscope, so to speak.""

""Based upon what I have heard about you --- I took the liberty of contacting a few faculty at NYU, all of whom gave you rave reviews, by the way --- you should have no difficulties in handling the duties of the position.""

""So, that's my proposition. Does it sound like something you would be interested in doing?""

""To be honest, Mr. Millbyer, I'm feeling rather overwhelmed at the moment. I don't know what to say.""

""But would you be willing to at least consider it?""

""Yes, I guess I'm willing to consider it. My husband and I will probably need several days to talk, think and pray about it.""

""You can take as long as you like, but I would appreciate you letting me know either way. Obviously, I would love it if you could start right away, but take your time. I realize this is a major decision to make.""

"Rachel told me later that after she thanked Mr. Millbyer and left the bank, she was torn between wanting to scream or dance but opted to do neither. She desperately wanted to call me at the office to share the news, but didn't want me to become preoccupied with it for the rest of the work day."

"When I got home, I knew right away something was up; something big. The dining room table was set with a special tablecloth, our china and silverware, a lit candle in the middle and a feast fit for a holiday was spread around the candle."

"Rachel greeted me wearing a light-blue dress she had recently found on sale, with her hair styled and the biggest smile I had seen on her face since that day we decided she would stay home."

"She almost seemed to skip up to me, then gave me a warm, gentle embrace and kiss."

""Okay, I know it's not our anniversary, nor is it any of our birthdays. It's safe to say we didn't win the Lotto, since we don't play, so that leaves a rich relative has died, included us in the will and now we're millionaires. Am I right?""

""Nope, not even close. Take a seat, lead us in the meal prayer and, after we've all had a few bites, I'll tell you.""

"After prayer and several bites, she broke the news. All I could do was sit there in stunned silence while she shared all the details."

""So, honey, what do you think? Honey?""

"I was still processing things and didn't realize she was asking me to respond."

""So, Jon, what you think about the proposal?""

""I think I'm overwhelmed. That's what I think.""

""Yeah, I felt that way, too, after Mr. Millbyer outlined his proposal. It _is_ rather overwhelming.""

""No kidding.""

""We don't have to decide right away. Mr. Millbyer actually encouraged us to take our time. If you'd rather not talk about it tonight, I'll understand.""

""No, I'm willing to talk about it, think about it and pray about it. However, I'd rather not have this decision hanging over our heads indefinitely. We need to set a deadline, say a week from today.""

""Sounds fine to me.""

"And that's exactly what we did. Over the next six days, we sat down together and talked about it, using a legal pad to jot down in two columns the "pros" and "cons". We prayed separately during the day and together each night."

"It ultimately came down to one big "pro" versus one big "con". The "pro" was Rachel would be able to get a start in her career while still being able to stay home. Plus, if things went as they should, this part-time job could lead to a full-time position once Ron entered pre-school."

"The big "con" was that, while technically she would still be able to stay home, she would have to spend at least part of the day doing bank work, and it would be unrealistic to expect that this work could all be done during Ron's naps. Whatever work was left over would have to either be done while Ron was awake or at night after he went to bed."

"Once again, it came down to our "gut feeling", only this time we were both more than eager to share. No coin flip this time. We decided to count down from three, then either say "I think we should say "Thanks but no thanks."" or "I think we should accept the offer.""

"I did the countdown."

""Okay, here we go: three…. two…. one…. ""

"Let me guess: you both said "I think we should accept the offer.""

"Yep. There was a short pause after we blurted it out, then I snatched her up in my arms, gave her a great big bear hug and a big kiss. This time _she_ was the one left gasping for breath."

"The bottom line was that the proposal was a godsend. It gave Rachel a chance to get a jumpstart on her career without all the pressures of a full-time onsite job. It also would give her more chances to socialize and get to know people. She is the outgoing, social type, and staying home full-time was getting to be rather lonely. It wouldn't be easy, but together we believed it could be managed."

"After Ron was tucked in for the night, we celebrated."

"Knowing you two, I'm sure it was quite a celebration."

"So, is it appropriate to say at this point "…and the Stoppables lived happily ever after"?"

"Not exactly. Rachel's work-from-home position did, as we hoped, lead to a full-time position at the bank after Ron started pre-school, and she has since become the Assistant Manager. There were a few rough periods, though, and more than once we seriously considered having her resign. Thankfully, Mr. Millbyer knew he had a gem in Rachel and did all he could to make changes in her duties so she would stay."

"How did Ron fair once he entered pre-school?"

"Well, Rachel and I were rather concerned how Ron would adapt. His personality is kind of a blend of the two of us, being outgoing and social like his mother but at the same time being awkward when socializing like me. I was afraid he would have a hard time making friends."

"As it turned out, he met a young girl that very first day of pre-school and they have been friends --- best friends, actually --- ever since."

"That little girl wouldn't happen to have been Kim Possible?"

"Uh, yeah. How did you know?"

"Jon, I've never been much of a newspaper reader or watched news on t-v, but a person would have had to have been stranded on a desert island or holed up deep in a cave the past five years not to know about Kim and Ron's exploits. How's it feel to have a world-famous teenage hero as a son?"

"How does it feel? You know, Bob, I've never really given it much thought."

"Surely you're concerned that he might get seriously hurt or maybe worse."

"Oh, Rachel and I always think about it every time Ron and Kim go on a mission. Yes, there's a chance he might return seriously injured or not come back alive. All we can do is pray he and Kim are able to handle whatever challenges they face on the mission and that God will protect them and be there if they stumble or fall."

"Whenever we have had doubts, Ron and Kim accomplish something on a mission that reminds us yet again that what they do is their calling in this life. That was especially the case last spring."

"You're referring to when they defeated Drakken and his Diablo robots, right?"

"Right. Were it not for Kim and Ron, Drakken would have succeeded. They nearly lost their lives more than once fighting Drakken, Shego and that synthodrone Eric."

"I understand Ron's pet, Rufus, in the end really saved the day."

"That he did. Oh, and Rufus isn't Ron's pet. He's his "good buddy" and Rachel and I have come to view him as the fourth member of our family."

"Interesting. Rufus is a naked mole rat, correct?"

"Yeah. Ron had been lobbying for a pet for years, but my allergy to pet hair all but ruled out any mammals, and he didn't want to have a turtle, gold fish or any other reptile or fish. Finally, when he had all but given up, he discovered an article about naked mole rats while surfing National Geographic's web site. Turned out that our local Smarty Mart department store actually carried the animals on an occasional basis. So, the next Saturday he and I went down, picked out the most normal looking of the brood, and brought it home. Ron named him Rufus after an imaginary friend he had when he was younger."

"Funny. You never mentioned to me that you were allergic to pet hair."

"That's probably because I never had any reason to tell you. Why?"

"Believe it not, I'm allergic to pet hair, too. My daughter, Mary --- who, by the way, is about the same age as your son and, last I knew, had a terrible crush on him --- wanted to have a pet years ago and we ran into the same problems you and Ron faced. One weekend she and I took the train into the City and spent an afternoon at the New York Public Library researching mammals. One of the Reference Librarians… I think his name was Gerry… yeah, that's right, Gerry Goss… worked with us and led us to the same animal: a naked mole rat."

"There are all kinds of exotic pet shops in the City, so it wasn't hard to track down a naked mole rat. We found her at a small family-owned pet shop in lower Manhattan. Mary thought she was adorable. I thought she made the ugliest girl in my grade school look attractive."

"On the train back home Mary decided to name her Raquel. When she said that I just about fell off my seat into the aisle, I was laughing so hard. She couldn't understand why I was laughing and thought I was making fun of her. Once I could catch my breath, I told her I wasn't making fun of her or her pet; it was an adult thing, and I promised I would explain it all to her when she was a little older."

"I must have missed something. What was so funny about naming a naked mole rat Raquel?"

"Oh, come on, Jon! You're not _that_ young! Think about it for a moment. I'll give you three hints: "Fantastic Voyage"; "The Three Musketeers"; an exceedingly well-proportioned woman."

"Let me think. Give me a minute. Uhhhh…. _ohhhhh_!"

"Now do you understand why I was laughing so hard?"

Jonathan couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, boy, do I understand!" Bob joined in and soon the two of them were laughing hysterically. It was a good five minutes later before they could settle back down enough to talk.

"Oh, my _goodnes_s! It's been a long time since I've laughed that hard. Sure feels good."

"Anyway, Jon, one of the reasons I was trying to track you down was that I need to ask you for a favor."

"A favor? I'd be glad to, as long as it doesn't involve money. I think we both learned the hard way that it's best to keep money out of friendships. So, what's the favor?"

"Well, Mary will be graduating from high school in December and is hoping to start college in January. She has a full-ride scholarship to attend Coastal Carolina University and plans to major in Marine Science. Unfortunately, the dorms don't allow pets. That means either Raquel stays home, which my wife is not at all crazy about, or we find her a new home."

"This was actually Mary's idea, but I got drafted to be the pitch man: would you and your family be willing take Raquel, at least until Mary is living off campus? We're talking at least two years, maybe more."

"Wow, that's quite a request! I'm pretty sure Ron would go for it, and I have no doubts whatsoever that Rufus would. I'd have to think about it and talk it over with Rachel. How soon do you need an answer?"

"There's no rush, but Mary was thinking that if you said "Yes" then she could fly out over Fall Break and personally deliver Raquel."

"Tell you what: I'm planning to call home tonight and I can broach the idea with Rachel. I'll let you know in the morning her initial reaction."

"Sounds good to me. We can meet over at the hotel restaurant for breakfast."

"And you can bring me up to date on what's happened to Bob Zimmerman since graduation."

"Darn! I thought I'd be able to avoid doing that."

"Not a chance, old buddy. I won't be flying out until late afternoon, so you'll have plenty of time."

"Fair enough. Shall we call it a night?"

"Let's. I still have to call Rachel before I hit the sack."

Jonathan and Bob paid their tabs and headed toward their rooms.

When they reached the elevators, Bob said, "I'm down here on the main level, so I guess I'll say "Good night"."

"Good night, Bob. It's been a great evening."

"It's been great for me, too, Jon. Breakfast at seven?"

"Let's make it eight o'clock, Bob. I like to sleep in a bit on Saturdays."

"Eight o'clock it is. Good night, again, Jon."

"Good night, Bob."


	12. Chapter 12

Yes! Believe it or not, I'm finally going to actually have a little action in this story! Remember, this story is a first-time attempt at KP fanfic. The action isn't anywhere _close_ to what's in the show or in the stories by the KP fanfic veterans here. I'm a newbie. Give me time. It _will_ get better.

As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

Kim and Ron were sitting side-by-side on the car tailgate, finishing up their carry-out Bueno Nacho meal. The grass was too damp to lay down a blanket and dew had already begun to form on the picnic tables. 

"This tailgate sure is _handy_", observed Kim.

"_Definitely_", Ron agreed. "I can't understand why more cars don't have them, especially the new ones. Dad says that when he was growing up, there were lots of cars like this, only they were a lot bigger and called "station wagons" or sometimes "estate wagons"."

"What time is it?" asked Kim.

"About ten minutes after ten", answered Ron.

"Well, shall we have that virgin strawberry margarita _now_, or save it until we get back from our walk?" Kim asked. "My vote is to _wait_. The Styrofoam cup is keeping it _plenty_ cold."

"I'm willing to wait, KP", replied Ron. "Let's lock up the car and dump the trash over in that garbage can."

Just as they were about to set off down the lake path, Ron asked, "Kim, you going to be warm enough? I think I might have an old shirt or sweatshirt in the back you can wear."

"Thanks, Ron, but as long as you stick close beside me, I think I'll be _just_ _fine_."

"You planning to take the Kimmunicator?"

"I would, but the pockets in these slacks are too small, so I thought I'd just leave it in your car. You're bringing along the Ronnunicator, right?"

"Yeah, I think I'd better. Things have been quiet so far tonight, and just once I'd love it if we could be "unplugged" from the world, even if it was only for a twenty minute walk."

Kim wrapped her arms around Ron's waist and leaned her head against his chest. "I'd love to "unplug" for awhile too, Ron. Just the two of us. No interruptions."

"You've had it a lot harder than me, Kim. You've had the Kimmunicator with you 24/7 for almost six years. I haven't even had the Ronnunicator for six months."

"We'd better let Wade know what's the sitch." Ron pressed a button on the Ronnunicator to initiate a transmission to Wade's communications console.

"Yo! Wade!"

"Hey, Ron! How are you and Kim enjoying your night out on the town?"

"I think it's safe to say we're having a _bon-diggity_ time. Right, Kim?" Ron turned the Ronnunicator screen toward Kim.

"I slept through almost the entire movie, but otherwise, yeah, we're having a _great_ time. Ron and I thought we'd better alert you that the Kimmunicator is switched off and we're leaving it in Ron's car during our walk. Ron will be carrying the Ronnunicator, so beep him if you need to reach us."

"Will do. Things have been pretty quiet so far. Let's hope it stays that way."

"Wade, once Ron and I get back to the car, I'll switch on the Kimmunicator and do an air check."

"I'll be here. Enjoy your walk."

"Thanks!" Kim and Ron replied in unison.

Ron slipped the Ronnunicator in his pants pocket, then he and Kim clasped hands and started down the path.

It was a moonless, cloudless night, and, due to the specially-designed lamps used along the path, the two teens were able to look up and see a sky blanketed with layer upon layer of stars.

Slowing their pace, Kim snuggled up beside Ron, who gently put his arm around her shoulders. They came to a stop, continuing to gaze skyward, awestruck by the majestic spectacle on display far above.

For several minutes they stood there in silence, transfixed.

Finally, with some reluctance, Kim whispered, "It puts everything in perspective, doesn't it?"

"How so?" whispered Ron.

"Looking up and seeing those millions and billions of stars, thinking about the vastness of the Universe, and knowing you and I are just two tiny beings on a tiny spec in the midst of it all. Makes all the troubles we face each day seem small, even trivial by comparison. And yet the One who created the Universe cares as much for _us_ as He does _all the stars in the sky_."

"You know, Kim, in all the years I've known you and your family, I don't recall ever hearing any of you talk about God. That is, until after the Prom last spring."

"Having your entire family nearly die the same night tends to do that to people, Ron. Remember, while that one Diablo was chasing us, the other one was still back at the house trying to get at Mom and Dad and the Tweebs. They barely got out of the garage alive and had several more close calls before they could find shelter in the subbasement."

"I guess you could say that as we started to piece our lives back together, it slowly dawned on us that it wasn't just skill and luck that got us all through that night. Something else --- or _Someone_ else --- was at work."

"All through the summer the five of us have set aside a little time a couple evenings each week to talk about what happened that night, how we felt then and afterward, and try to describe any changes we've sensed taking place in ourselves and in the family. A _big_ part of it has been Mom and Dad opening up and sharing."

"Mom grew up in a fairly traditional Irish Catholic home, while Dad was raised in what he calls a "nominally Episcopalian" family. Neither of them was practicing their faith when they met, but since Mom has an uncle who is a priest, they decided to have him officiate at the wedding, which took place in "Our Lady of the Mountains", a rustic church up in Estes Park, Colorado. I'll have to show you their wedding album sometime. Mom looks absolutely _radiant_."

"Mom and Dad had agreed that, while they both had some belief in God or a Higher Power, they had seen more than enough religious strife in the world and in their families and didn't want that to continue in their own family. So, that's how they raised me and the twins."

"It's not that we're totally messed up because of it. I think I've turned out okay, don't _you_?"

"Ummm, I think I'd better take the Fifth on _that_ one", replied Ron with a hint of a grin.

"Ron!" Kim pulled away a step and punched Ron in the shoulder.

"Owww! Just _kidding_, KP!" Ron winced as he rubbed his right shoulder.

"You'd _better_ be!" Kim said with a look of mock anger.

Ron turned and, taking Kim's hands in his, looked into her green eyes.

"Kim, I think you've turned out _wonderfully_. In fact, I don't see how you could have turned out _any better_."

"Now _that's_ more _like_ it!"

"You know, Ron, I _am_ getting a little chilly. How about we pick up the pace a bit? Race you to that next lamp post!"

"You go on ahead, KP. These sneakers are new and the laces have gotten pretty loose. I'd better tighten them back up before I do any running."

Kim broke into a slow jog, swinging her arms back-and-forth, side-to-side and in a windmill motion. Her clothes were not suited for anything too athletic, but after sitting most of the evening it felt good to move and stretch.

Upon reaching the lamp post, Kim came to a stop, spread her legs slightly to maintain balance and began doing some torso twists.

As Kim was making her second twist to her left, she heard what sounded like a high-powered air gun being fired several yards behind her. Before she had any chance to react, two sharp darts pierced her blouse and embedded themselves in her upper-left shoulder. A split second later, 950K volts of electricity surged through her entire body. She tried to call for Ron but she was unable to even open her mouth. With her central nervous system completely out of her control, all Kim could do was collapse to the sidewalk.

Ron was just finishing up tightening his left shoe when he looked up and saw Kim first flinch and then her whole body violently contort in pain before collapsing to the pavement.

"Kim!!!"

He leapt to his feet and bolted down the path.

Whipping out the Ronnunicator, he pressed the transmit button.

"Ron?"

"Wade! 9-1-1! We need an ambulance and some squad cars, stat! And put the Ronnunicator in 'copter mode! _Now_!"

Ron flung the Ronnunicator up in the air underhanded. Just as it reached its apex, arms sprung out from the top and bottom edges, unfolded and two rotors emerged and began to whirl around, leaving the screen of the Ronnunicator face down.

Using his joystick, Wade carefully maneuvered the Ronnunicator over where Kim lay, ascending to about forty feet above the ground. Meanwhile, via his wireless headset, he was making a 9-1-1 call to the Middleton Police and Emergency Medical Units.

As Ron came closer, two large men dressed in black from head to foot emerged from a clump of trees to the right and stood over Kim's seemingly lifeless body.

"Stay _away_ from her! I swear, if you lay even a _finger_ on her, I'll…"

Ron was cut off in mid-sentence as his legs were chopped out from underneath him, causing him to sprawl head-first onto the pavement.

Two burly arms grabbed his from behind, dragged him to his feet, and began to twist his arms into a pretzel hold.

"You'll do _what_, little man? _Scare_ us with nasty _words_? _Frighten_ us with dirty _looks_? _Ohhh_, I'm s-o-o s-c-a-r-e-d. _Move_!"

As he was being shoved forward, Ron could feel something warm trickling down his forehead. It was blood seeping out from an abrasion inflicted when his face scrapped the pavement. "Please, just don't have it run into my eyes." The pretzel hold on Ron's arms was cutting off circulation, causing them to go numb and limp.

"What are we supposed to do with _him_?" asked one of the two men standing over Kim. "The e-mail notice only said "WANTED: Dead or Alive. Kim Possible. $100 Million Dollar Reward.""

"Let's just dump him in the lake", answered the other man. "He'll be more trouble than he's _worth_. We've got _her_. They would have preferred she be _alive_, but the notice said they'd take her dead, so we'll still get that reward."

"You three had better hope she's _not_ dead, because if she _is_, I guarantee you'll never have a chance to spend one _penny_ of that reward."

"Big _words_ from such a little man! How are you going to stop us if _you're_ dead, _too_?"

"I'm not dead _yet_, and even _if_ I die here with Kim, there are hundreds, even thousands of people all over the world who care deeply for Kim. Once they hear she's been murdered, they'll be hunting down the three of you day and night in every corner of the globe. There'll be nowhere for you to hide. One way or another, they'll find you and you will pay _dearly_ for what you've done."

"Blah, blah, blah! We're wasting our time here listening to this punk make idle threats. Let's get it _over_ with and make our $100 million COD drop-off."

As he was speaking, the man walked toward Ron, a high-voltage stun gun in his right hand, bent on doing to Ron what he had done moments ago to Kim. Ron desperately struggled to break free from his captor's grasp, but his arms were all but useless and he couldn't reach his legs back far enough to do a sweep takedown.

Just as the man was about to thrust the stun gun into Ron's chest, something that sounded like a low-flying jet aircraft but looked like a wheelchair swooped in off the lake and a mechanical arm reached down, clamping onto the man's right forearm. It then hoisted him high into the air, spun around, flew back over the lake and released him to plummet fifty feet straight down into the water.

In the midst of the surprise and confusion, the man behind Ron relaxed his pretzel hold. Seizing the opportunity, Ron swept his right leg behind his captor's and pushed off with his left. The man lost his balance and tumbled to the ground, with Ron crashing down on top of him. Jumping up, Ron contemplated his next blow, looked down and realized that it wouldn't be necessary: his foe was out cold.

Spinning around to face the remaining man, Ron vigorously shook his arms to get some feeling back in them, rolled his head around until he heard his neck crack, and then, arms ready at his sides, he walked slowly and deliberately straight toward his foe, all the while staring the man straight in the eyes.

"Mister, I'll give you a choice. You can either lay face-down in the grass with your arms behind your back on your _own_, or I'll _make_ you do it. Which would _you_ prefer?"

The man reached around his back, pulled out a handgun that he had tucked in his pants and pointed it at Ron. "I'm choosing _neither_, punk. Now I'm going to offer _you_ a choice. Would you rather join your girl friend in the next life shot in the _chest_ or in the _back_? Better think _fast_, 'cause I'm gonna count to three, then send you on your way."

"_One_… _two_…. "

He never made it to "three".

Unobserved, Wade had quietly maneuvered the Ronnunicator around the man with the gun and slowly crept up behind him. Right before he was to say "three", two probes touched the back of his neck, sending four-hundred-thousand volts up and down his body. The handgun fell harmlessly to the ground, while the man slumped over, dropped to his knees and then curled up like an infant on his side.

Ron snatched the gun off the ground, dashed over to where Kim lay and knelt down beside her. Gently lifting her left arm, he took his right thumb and pressed down at several places on her wrist. At the same time, he stroked her face and hair with his left hand.

"Oh God, p-l-e-a-s-e let me find a pulse."

Moving his thumb up, down and across Kim's wrist, unable to feel a pulse, Ron eyes filled up with tears and he began to sob.

"God, please don't take Kim now! The world _needs_ her. _I_ need her. Please, God, _please_ let her stay."

Ron used the sleeve on his left arm to try and dry his eyes. While he did this, he released his grip on Kim's wrist ever so slightly and his thumb slipped back about a quarter of an inch. He resumed stroking Kim's face and hair and pressed down with his thumb. He felt a pulse. It was faint and seemed to come and go, but it was definitely a pulse.

"Thank you, God! Thank you for allowing Kim to stay!"

"Wade! Kim's alive!"

"Thank God!"

"Where's the ambulance?"

"They should be there any moment."

As Wade was speaking, four vehicles with flashing lights were coming over the ridge: three Middleton Police squad cars and an ambulance. The squad cars pulled off to the right and six Police Officers emerged. Quickly assessing the situation, they fanned out, two apiece to the three apparent perpetrators. Moments later all three were handcuffed.

The ambulance pulled up beside where Ron knelt beside Kim, and two EMTs --- one male and the other female --- burst out the rear doors.

"Please move aside, sir, so we can examine her", requested the female EMT, who knelt down beside Kim and began to check for vital signs."

"What's her name?" asked the male EMT.

"Kim. Kim Possible", Ron answered.

"_The_ Kim Possible? Man, I never thought I would answer a call to help _her_. So that means you must be Ron; Ron Stoppable, right?"

"Yeah, that's me. Can we keep our head in the game here? How's Kim doing?"

"She's alive, but in shock", answered the female EMT. "We need to get her to ER ASAP. Rick, call in to Middleton General. Let them know we're coming and our approximate ETA, then help me with the stretcher."

"Will do, Karen." Rick ran around to the ambulance cab and contacted ER.

"What happened to her, Ron?" asked Karen.

"As best as I can tell, one of those dudes must have shot her with a super-high-voltage taser from behind those bushes over there. Cowards! She was faced the other way and never saw it coming. I was a little further back up the path tightening my shoes when I saw her flinch, then her whole body went spastic and finally she collapsed."

"I honestly thought she was _dead_. She hadn't moved a muscle for almost ten minutes. Thank God she's alive."

"Can I ride along with her to the hospital?" asked Ron.

"I think its best you didn't, Ron. I'll be in the back with her the entire trip. We'll take good care of Kim. You can follow in your own car. I'm sure the hospital staff will allow you to be at her side once they feel she's out of danger. Oh, and make sure to have a nurse take a look at your forehead. It doesn't appear to be anything serious but it needs to be cleaned and bandaged or it might become infected."

While Ron and Karen were talking, Rick pulled out the stretcher and laid it down beside Kim. He and Karen gingerly lifted Kim off the ground and lowered her onto the stretcher. After fastening Kim's safety straps, they carefully lifted up the stretcher and slid it into transport position.

Karen hopped up into the ambulance compartment, locked down the stretcher and connected Kim to the on-board vital signs monitoring equipment. Initial readouts showed Kim was weak but very much alive. Turning around, she looked down at Ron and gave him a reassuring smile. "Ron, your girl friend is one tough young lady. From all I've heard about you two, she should come through this just fine."

Rick closed the doors behind Karen, ran up to the cab and jumped in. He backed the ambulance around, cut the wheels and drove back out the way he came in.

As Ron watched the ambulance disappear over the ridge, one of the police officers approached.

"Sir, I know you're anxious to get to the hospital, but we'll need a brief statement from you regarding all that happened here. You can come down to the Police Station later to make a full statement. For now, all I need from you is confirmation that all three of these men participated in the assault on you and the girl."

"Yes, Officer, all three were involved. The dripping wet one is the ringleader and, from what I heard them say, he's the one who fired the taser at Kim. I do know for _sure_ he was the one who tried to zap me with a high-voltage stun gun."

"Thank you, sir. That's more than enough to take them downtown, book them and keep them on ice until we can get everything sorted out. You're free to go."

"Thanks, Officer."

The three men were led away, one to a squad car. With minimal difficulty, the police officers were able to restrain all three in the rear of their vehicles. One by one, the squad cars did a u-turn and headed back out of the park.

Lost in thought, Ron was startled to hear a very familiar female voice yell from the lakeshore.

"Yo! Ron!"

He turned and there hovering before him was Felix seated in his cybertronic wheelchair with Monique standing behind him, riding shotgun.

"Felix! You _are_ the "_Man_"!"

"Thanks, Ron, but I couldn't have done it without my co-pilot here." Felix tilted back his head while Monique leaned down and they joined in an inverted kiss.

"Well, if weren't for _you_ two, they would be transporting _me_ down to ER along with Kim. Or _worse_. Thanks!"

"_Glad_ to do it", answered Felix.

"How's Kim?" asked Monique. "We couldn't help but eavesdrop and what we heard sounded pretty bad."

"Kim took a huge jolt from that ultra-high-voltage taser and was still in shock, but her vitals were steady though weak. Karen, the EMT, seemed confident Kim would be okay."

"Ron, don't worry", said Felix. "If _anyone_ can bounce back from this, it's _Kim_."

"Hey, Ron!" It was Wade, hailing him from the Ronnunicator, which he now had hovering about a foot above Ron's head. "Are you ready to take the Ronnunicator out of 'copter mode?"

"Yeah, let's _do_ it. I want to head over to Middleton General right away so I can be there when Kim comes out of ER."

Using the joystick control, Wade lowered the Ronnunicator three more feet until it was about chest-high for Ron. Ron stretched out his arm and opened his hand so it was four or five inches directly below. Wade carefully lowered the Ronnunicator down further until it was less than an inch above Ron's hand. Next, he cut the power to the two rotors, and the Ronnunicator dropped the final inch. Finally, Wade sent a command to the unit to collapse the rotor arms and retract them back inside the case.

"Wade, you absolutely _rock_! I knew about the 'copter mode, but I had no idea you had built a stun gun into the unit, too. Thanks, man, for saving my life yet again!"

"Ron, that's what I'm _here_ for."

"Sometime you're going to have to show me all the other gizmos and doohickeys you managed to squeeze into this thing, but not right now. I need to head over to the hospital."

"Care for a lift?" asked Felix.

"You want me to stand on the back with Monique? Won't that throw it off balance?"

"Actually, I was going to have Monique sit in my lap. Mom and I installed an extra set of seatbelts, just in case something like this ever came up."

"Something tells me that second set wasn't installed just for _emergency_ use", Monique slyly observed.

"Well, I suppose there _might_ have been an ulterior motive", Felix replied grinning.

"Uh-huh", said Monique, giving him the eye.

"What about my extra weight?" asked Ron.

"You're about the same size and weight as me, and this was designed to carry up to four times my weight, so again, n-o-o problem. Climb aboard!"

Monique swung around to the front and settled into Felix's lap while Ron hopped onto the back and gripped his hands around the handle bar.

"Felix, how did you two know where to _find_ Kim and me?"

"Wade, of course! He text messaged Monique's pager with "9-1-1 Call Wade". I dialed him on my chair's integrated cell phone and he filled us in. We were at the Video Arcade on the northwest side of town, so even at full speed it took a few minutes for us to get here. Along the way, Wade outlined the situation and he and I devised a plan of attack, something that would catch them off-guard. That's why we flew across the lake instead of down the walking path."

"And it's a good thing you _did_, Felix. If you had come down the walking path, you might not have been able to grab the ringleader's arm before he zapped me with his stun gun."

They were just coming to the head of the walking path. As they glided out the entrance and across the parking lot, Ron said, "On second thought, I'd like to drive over to the hospital. There's a good chance I'll be there all night, and I'd rather not be stranded in case I need to go out and get something for Kim or run home, take a shower and change. Thanks for the lift."

"Not a problem, Ron. We'll swing by the hospital in the morning to check on Kim. Call us if her condition worsens or if there's anything we can do to help."

Felix and Monique waved as they flew off down the road to Monique's home. Ron waved back, then unlocked the door to his car and climbed in.

"Wade, can you patch me into your cell phone so I can call my mom? I need to tell her what's happened and that I'll probably not be coming home tonight."

"Give me a second and I'll have you set up."

"Oh, and Wade, I need you to do me a _big_ favor. Would you call Kim's parents, explain to them what happened to Kim and keep them updated on her condition?"

"Uh… okay. Ron, are you sure _you_ don't want to make that call?"

"I don't think I'm up to telling Kim's parents that her boy friend nearly got her killed tonight because he had to tighten his shoelaces."

"Ron, it wasn't your _fault_. There's _no way_ you could have known those thugs were hiding in the bushes with that taser."

"No, but if I had been beside her, maybe I could have shielded her from the darts and taken the jolt myself."

"Ron, they were targeting _Kim_. If they didn't have a clear shot then, they probably would have waited until later, a little further down the walking path. And even _Kim_ isn't fast enough to dodge a_ taser_ when it's fired. At best, you might have intercepted one of the two darts, but then both of you would have been taken down and God only knows what would have happened after that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Wade. I'd still like you to call her folks. I'm afraid I might say something stupid and make them even more upset."

"Okay, but you need to talk with them."

"I will. At the hospital. Now, can we dial-up my mom, please?"

Ron started the car, let it idle for a minute or two, then backed up and drove out of the parking lot.

"Hi, Mom. No, I didn't have another flat or run out of gas. No, I didn't have an accident, at least not with the car, anyway. Mom, I think you'd better sit down. Okay? Well, Kim and I did take our walk around City Park Lake, but while we were walking…."

* * *

This story was originally going to be fourteen chapters with a postscript, but it looks like it's going to be at least another chapter or two in length. Oh, and, yes, I intend to address the "$100 million "Wanted"" e-mail. Later. In another story. 


	13. Chapter 13

As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

It's ten-twenty at the Possible house. Aside from the ticking of the clock above the sink, the only sound is the "Tap, tap, tap" of a Scrabble letter "A" on the Masonite table top in the breakfast nook. 

"Dear, I believe it's your turn."

"Tap, tap, tap."

"Dear?"

"I know, I know. I'm just having a hard time concentrating. Having a naked mole rat perched above you like a vulture, watching your every move can be quite a distraction."

"Jim, you agreed to allow Rufus to climb up in the light fixture and watch us play Scrabble. Just try to focus on your letters and the board and you won't even notice he's up there."

"That's easy for you to say, Kate. You're a _neurosurgeon_. You _have to_ be able to concentrate. Otherwise, who _knows_ what might happen? Someone going into surgery as a mild-mannered accountant might come out thinking he's Napoleon. A shy little ballerina might come out a brawling roller derby queen. Heck, a life-long Democrat might come out a rabid Republican!"

"Jim, you've been watching too much of the Sci-Fi Channel again. Brain surgery can do some amazing, even miraculous things today, but we can't change a Democrat into a Republican or vice versa. Although I'll admit there _are_ times that I wish we could."

"Oh, and it's still your turn, or do you want to pass?"

"No, I'll play." James Possible placed his "A" down below an "N" already on the board, then below that a "K", an "E" and finally a "D". "Mark me down for twenty points on that one."

"Now, see. Having Rufus around actually helped you with your word."

"Actually, Kate, the word isn't in reference to Rufus. It's referring to you", James said, looking across the table into his wife's big blue eyes with a grin and a wink.

"O-h-h, r-e-a-l-l-y. What's on _your_ mind, Dr. Possible? As if I didn't know", Kate responded with raised eyebrow and a grin of her own.

"W-e-l-l, I'm just wondering, Dr. Possible, if you might consider raising the stakes a bit on our game, say turn it into "Strip Scrabble"."

"Out here, in the kitchen? What if the twins hear us or Kim and Ron walk in on us?"

"N-o-o, in our bedroom, of course. It'll give us a chance to dust off that travel version you gave me for Christmas years ago. It's magnetic, so the letters won't scatter if things get, well, a little active."

"Sounds fun! Shall we finish this game first? There's only a few letters left."

"Sure. It's your…. "

"Ayyyy!" Rufus, who had been trying to position himself for a better view of the game, lost his balance and came crashing down, landing right in the middle of the board. Letters scattered in every direction.

"…turn."

"Uh-oh! S-o-r-r-y." Rufus instantly realized he was in BIG trouble, or so he thought.

Kathleen did all she could to keep from laughing. "Looks like Rufus has made our decision _for_ us. Shall we call this game a draw?"

"Yeah, that's fine with me. I'll gather up all the letters and put the game away."

"While you're doing that, I'll go freshen up." Kathleen walked out the kitchen doorway and down the hall to the master bedroom.

"Rufus, you are one very fortunate naked mole rat", said James. "Any other time this would have earned you banishment from our home for at least a week. I'll let you off the hook this time, but next time, don't plan on me being so charitable. Understand?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good. Now why don't you go back up to Kim's room and play on the computer some more until they get home."

"Okay."

Rufus hopped down off the table, scampered out the kitchen door and down the hallway.

Just then, the phone rang.

"Huh. Who could be calling at this time of the night? Probably Kim."

"Hello. Possible residence."

"Dr. Possible, can you and Mrs. Possible both get on the line? Something's happened and I think it's best you hear it together."

"Uh, sure, Wade. Hang on a second."

James walked down the hallway to the master bedroom and knocked on the door.

"Jim, I'm not quite ready. Can you give me a couple more minutes?"

"Kate, Wade's on the phone. He wants us both on the line. He says something has happened and it would be best if you and I hear it together."

Kate opened the door. "Is it about Kim and Ron? Is Kim okay?"

"I don't know. Get the phone from the bedroom and let's go out into the family room."

Grabbing the cordless phone from her nightstand, Kathleen clutched James' hand as they walked down the hallway into the family room and sat side-by-side on the couch.

"Okay, Wade. We're both on the line. What's happened?"

"Kim and Ron were out at City Park Lake taking a walk when they got jumped by three bouncer-sized thugs. Ron's okay except for a scrape on his forehead."

"What about Kim?" asked James. He reached around Kathleen's waist and held her tight.

"One of the thugs shot Kim with an ultra-high-voltage taser."

"Oh, dear God!" exclaimed Kathleen. James slid his arm up to Kathleen's shoulder and did his best to comfort her.

"Wade, how's Kim? What's her condition?" asked James.

"The jolt from the taser threw her into shock. An EMT crew rushed her over to Middleton General. She's just been taken into ER. I talked with Karen, one of the EMTs, and she said that Kim's come out of shock but is still unconscious. Her vital signs are weak but steady."

"Thank God she's still alive!" said Kathleen, tears running down her face.

Wade continued, "Ron's on his way to the hospital. He wants to be there when they bring Kim out of ER."

"Wade, I really appreciate you calling, but why didn't _Ron_ call us?" James asked.

"Ron's pretty shook up. He blames himself for what happened to Kim", Wade answered. "Also, he was afraid if he called he might say something that would make you even more upset."

"Well, _was_ it his fault?" asked James.

"Jim! That's not a fair question to be asking Wade right now! Besides, from what he's said and what I know about tasers, there probably wasn't anything Ron _could_ have done to prevent it."

"You're right, Kate. Sorry, Wade."

"That's okay, Dr. Possible. My dad would have probably asked the exact same question."

"Wade, I'm going to head over to the hospital. Here's my cell phone number: 555-1437. Call me if there's _any_ change in Kim's condition."

"Will do, Dr. Possible."

Wade ended the transmission. All that could be heard by James and Kathleen was a dial tone. They both turned off their handsets.

"Jim, I want to go with you."

"I know you do, Kate, but someone should be here with the twins and talk to them in the morning. I …"

The doorbell rang.

"That's probably the Middleton Police. I'll get it."

James walked quickly to the front door and opened it.

"Good evening, Officer. We know why you're here …."

He cut himself off in mid-sentence when he realized it wasn't a police officer. It was Rachel Stoppable.

"Jim, Ron called and told me what happened. I got over here as fast as I could."

James called out to Kathleen. "Kate, its Rachel Stoppable."

Kathleen joined James in the entry way.

"Rachel, I thought you'd be heading down to the hospital to see Ron."

"I was planning to when Ron told me what happened, but he said he'd be fine. He thought I should come over here instead and watch the twins so the two of you could go down and see Kim."

"Oh, God bless Ron. He _always_ puts Kim ahead of himself", Kathleen stepped forward and gave Rachel a hug. "And God bless you _too_, Rachel."

James put his arm around Rachel and gave her a squeeze. "Thanks, Rachel. You and Jon have been _so_ generous to us this year. There's no way we could ever repay you for all you've done."

"Yes there is, Jim. You and Kate can get down to the hospital and take good care of your wonderful daughter. She means the world to Ron. The day those two exchange vows will be the happiest day of my life. Now get moving!"

* * *

Ron received good news the moment he walked into Middleton General's ER entrance: Kim had come out of shock but she was still unconscious. The ER nurse told him that the ER staff had to insure Kim was stabilized, then run a series of tests to determine what if any permanent damage might have occurred as a result of her being hit by the taser. 

Barring any further complications, Kim would then be moved out of ER into an Intensive Care Unit patient room, where he would be able to see her.

Pacing back and forth in the ER Waiting Room, Ron mentally went over and over everything that happened and there was one detail that kept bothering him. The three thugs had mentioned something about a "Wanted" e-mail and the reward was $100 million "dead or alive". Someone had put a bounty on Kim's head; someone with _very_ deep pockets. He pulled out the Ronnunicator and called Wade.

"Sorry if I woke you, Wade."

"No, I was awake. I don't think I'll be able to sleep until I know Kim's going to be alright. What's up?"

"Do you remember those three thugs talking about getting a $100 million reward whether they delivered Kim "dead or alive"?"

"Yeah, I remember. It sounded like a hoax to me. I mean, if that sort of e-mail _were_ circulating out on the Internet, Middleton would be overrun by now with thousands of criminals, from super villains all the way down to petty crooks. Also, I would have found out about it the moment the e-mail was sent."

"I don't know, Wade. _They_ obviously thought it was for real. I don't want to take any chances. Could you call Middleton Police and have them set up a rotating 24/7 watch for Kim?"

"Sure, Ron, if that's what you want, but I think I might have something that would be easier to set up and, with all due respect to our men and women in blue, a _whole_ lot more effective."

"What's that?"

"Remember that McHenry Laser Grid system that Mr. Paisley had set up in his mansion and Team Impossible duplicated at their headquarters?"

"Yeah. It'd be hard _not_ to remember, even for me. Why?"

"Well, I've been working on a portable version of the system."

"A _portable_ system? You're kidding me!"

"Nope. So far, I've managed to shrink it down to where the entire system, including the power source, fits inside a large rolling luggage bag. Eventually I want to make it completely modular, something that could be carried in a briefcase or backpack and set up by just about anybody."

"Wade, you truly _are_ "The Man"! How soon could you get it here?"

"I'll need approval from Hospital Security and the Middleton Police, but that shouldn't be a problem. If there are no other snags, I should be able to bring it down there, set it up and have it operational in a couple of hours."

"Wait a minute. Are you saying _you're_ bringing it down? In _person_?"

"Ron, if I was willing to leave my room when Team Impossible toasted my system, don't you think I'd do it now for Kim?"

"Yeah, I _know_ you would. Sorry. It wasn't right for me to question. Oh, and thanks again for calling Kim's parents. If I had called them I might have said something just stupid as I did now."

"That's okay, Ron. Unless you hear from me otherwise, I'll be down there in about half an hour."

Wade ended transmission. Ron stuffed the Ronnunicator back in his pants pocket and went to find a soda machine.

Meanwhile, the Possible sedan was pulling into the hospital parking lot and James was backing into the space nearest to the ER entrance. Kathleen reached across and grasped his left hand.

"Jim, I know you're still upset with Ron… "

"Can't hide anything from _you_, can I, Kate… "

"Dear, the steam coming out of your ears and the indentation you're leaving in the steering wheel are rather hard to overlook."

"Huh?"

"Jim, I'm just _joking_. We're _both_ worried and upset, but let's not make things worse. Right now Ron doesn't need you to threaten to send him on that Venus probe, even in jest. He needs your love and support, okay?"

"Okay, hon. You're right, as always."

"It's taken nearly twenty years of marriage, Dr. James Timothy Possible, but I'm glad you've _finally_ figured that out."

James Possible exited the driver's side, came around, opened Kathleen's door and assisted her out of the passenger side. Closing the door, they kissed, joined hands and walked toward the ER Entrance.

Ron was coming around the corner from the soda machine when he saw Mr. and Mrs. Possible enter through the main ER doors.

Even though in the car ride he had rehearsed several times in his head what he would say, now that the time had come he just couldn't get the words out. "Mr. and Mrs. Dr. P., … I'm so sorry… for what happened… to Kim." Ron's throat tightened and tears began to trickle down his face. "It was my fault… I should have been… beside Kim… when she was…attacked." At last he could no longer hold it back. Ron broke down sobbing, his hands clutching his knees.

James Possible stepped forward, took Ron by the forearms and helped him stand up straight, then wrapped him in a loving fatherly embrace. Ron continued to sob in his arms.

Kathleen Possible stood beside Ron, placed her hand on his shoulder and tried to comfort him.

"Ron, no one is blaming you for what happened. _We're_ certainly not blaming you. Wade says there was nothing you or anyone else could have done to prevent it."

Ron tried to respond in between sniffles. "I'm sorry... I didn't call. I was afraid if I called... I'd say something... _really_ stupid."

"Frankly, Ron, I _am_ disappointed you didn't call", James Possible spoke in a mildly scolding tone, "But now's not the time to talk about that and it's something you should first discuss with your parents.

"Ron, how's Kim?" asked Kathleen Possible. "Wade said Kim was no longer in shock but was still unconscious."

"That's the last I heard, too, Mrs. Possible."

As Ron spoke, one of the doctors emerged from the Emergency Room.

"Doctor, how is Kim?" asked James Possible.

"Jim, she's begun to regain consciousness. We'll be moving her to a room in ICU shortly."

"Any indications of permanent damage, Doctor?" asked Kathleen.

"Well, as you know, Kate, it's hard to tell for certain this early, but the preliminary test results show no signs of damage. We'll have to run more tests, of course."

Ron spoke up, "Doc', how long do you think Kim will have to stay here?"

"Ron, I'd like to keep Kim in ICU for observation at least through the weekend. I'll notify the ICU staff that you and Kim's family can visit, but I ask that only two or three of you be in with her at a time."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have another patient I need to check on."

"Thank you, Doctor", Ron, James and Kathleen said in unision.

"Well, I guess all we can do is sit and wait", said James.

"And pray", added Kathleen.

"Yes, and pray", agreed James.

Walking over to a row of chairs along the wall opposite the ER Nurse's Desk, Mr. Possible sat down with his wife to his right and Ron to his left, their hands clasped together, forming a chain. Bowing their heads, James led them in prayer.

"Father God, you know all that has happened and all that is on our hearts. Surround Kim with Your love. Heal her of any wounds she has received tonight, physically, mentally or spiritually. Make good out of the evil that has taken place, and bring us all out of this stronger in body, mind and spirit. In Your Name we pray, Amen."

"A-m-e-n", echoed Kathleen and Ron.

* * *

And you thought married couples who stayed home evenings and played Scrabble led boring lives. BTW, yes, there _is_ such a game as "Strip Scrabble" and you can find rules for it on the Internet. Of course, the only version that gets _my_ official endorsement, FWIW, is the one played by the Drs. Possible. 


	14. Chapter 14

As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

Once the Possibles were on their way to the hospital, Rachel Stoppable pulled out her cell phone and dialed her husband's hotel room number in Orlando. He picked up on the first ring. 

"Hello?"

"Jon, this is Rachel."

"Hi, honey. Any news?"

"Jim and Kate are headed down to the hospital. They both _really_ appreciated me coming over to watch the twins."

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right? I'm sure they'd do the same for us."

"Well, let's just hope they never _have_ to."

"How are _you_ holding up?" asked Jonathan Stoppable.

"I was pretty tired when Ron first called but I guess I'm over my "hump" for now."

"So, what are your plans for the night?"

"Probably just take one of their cordless phones in the family room, curl up on the couch and try to catch a few hours of sleep. The twins somehow managed to sleep through all the activity, which is for the best. I'm not sure where Rufus ended up, though. Guess I'll have to track him down and see if he's okay."

"You still want me to come home on my scheduled flight?"

"I don't see any point in you trying to catch an earlier one, Jon. You're flying non-stop, and any earlier flight is likely to have layovers. Plus, you were planning on meeting Bob Zimmerman for breakfast."

"_And_?"

"_And_ you can tell him we'd be more than happy to have Raquel come live with us for a while."

"Good. I'm sure he'll be relieved and his daughter Mary will be thrilled."

"Just don't you two get so caught up in reminiscing that you miss your flight. Oh, and you _do_ remember where you parked the car at the airport, _right_?"

"Now, Rachel, when have I _ever_ lost track of my car in the airport parking lot?"

"Jon, I can't remember the last time you _didn't_ lose track of it."

"Touché. Be sure to call me on my cell if anything changes. I love you."

"I love you, too. Sleep tight."

Before sacking out on the family room couch, Rachel decided to check in on the twins. Their bedroom door was slightly ajar. She opened it three or four inches and peeked in: both boys could be heard breathing steadily, sound asleep in their bunk beds. She pulled the door closed.

Since there was no sign of Rufus in the twins' bedroom, she figured he must be upstairs in Kim's room. Climbing up enough to scan the room, she heard his distinctive snore but was unable to tell where it came from, so she climbed the rest of the way.

Walking over to Kim's bed, she came upon one of the most adorable sights she had seen in quite some time: Rufus had crawled under the bed covers and was snuggled up with Kim's Panda-Roo.

"Now why didn't we think of getting him one of _those_?" she thought. "Oh, well, Rufus. I guess you're going to have to settle for the real thing. I'm sure you won't complain."

Descending to the main floor, Rachel made her way back to the family room, got all comfortable on the couch, said a short prayer for Kim's recovery and within minutes was fast asleep.

* * *

"K-i-i-m-m-m… Kimmie C-u-u-b-b… K-P…" 

She could hear familiar voices calling her name, but it was like in a dream. Kim tried to answer but her own voice sounded distant and not wholly her own.

"Mom...? Dad...? Ron...?"

As she spoke, she struggled to open her eyes but the room light was too intense.

"Mom…? Dad…? Ron…? Are you there?"

"We're all here, Kim", reassured her father.

"Where am I?" Kim asked.

"You're in Intensive Care at Middleton General, Kim", answered her mother. "Don't try to open your eyes just yet. Let them adjust for awhile."

"How'd I get here? The last thing I remember… was Ron and I were out at City Park Lake… walking. I was doing some stretching… waiting for Ron to catch up… when something sharp hit me… in the back. That's… that's all I can… remember…"

"That's good, KP", said Ron, "I honestly hope you _never_ remember any more, because I only saw it happen and it's something I'll probably never forget."

"How long have I been out?" Kim asked.

"Altogether, close to four hours", answered Mrs. Possible.

"What happened?" Kim asked.

"Kim, you were hit by a super-high-voltage taser", answered a familiar voice from a corner of the room.

"Wade? Is that you?"

"In the flesh."

"I gotta see this to believe it. Get over here where I can see you", Kim demanded.

Wade walked around and stood beside Kim's hospital bed. Kim slowly raised her right arm and hand to shield her eyes, then opened her right eye just a crack.

"It definitely _looks_ like you. Ron, did you do the hologram test?"

"Oh, yeah. It's really him."

"Slap your hand again?" Kim asked.

"No, actually _this_ time he ran over my foot with a large roller luggage bag."

"Huh?" Kim had a rather puzzled expression.

"Long story, Kim", explained Wade. "It can wait 'til later."

"Speaking of waiting until later", interrupted the ICU Night Duty Nurse, who had just stepped into the room, "I think it would be best if all further discussions wait until later today. Our patient here has had quite a night and Doctor's orders are for her to get plenty of rest."

"Thank you, Nurse", said Mrs. Possible. "Well, Kim, I guess we're getting chased out already." She leaned over the bed and gave her daughter a big hug. "You really had us scared at first, but I'm _so_ thankful you're recovering so well. I love you."

"Love you, too, Mom", replied Kim.

"Kim, I'm going to run your Mom home and then I'll be back", said Mr. Possible.

"Dad, you don't need to stay here with me all night", Kim said.

"Kim, I'm not staying because I _need_ to; I'm staying because I _want_ to", replied Mr. Possible.

"Oh… thanks, Dad", Kim said with a smile.

"Mr. Dr. P., I'll stay here 'til you get back. Then I can come in later and take over watch duties, say, around eleven o'clock?" offered Ron.

"That would be great, Ron. Be back shortly."

"Good night, Wade", said Mrs. Possible. "Thanks yet again for all your help with Kim and Ron. Oh, and thank your dad for running you over tonight."

"Will do, Mrs. Possible."

Taking each other by the hand, James and Kathleen Possible looked once more upon their daughter, leaned together and smiled, then with some hesitation turned and left the room.

Ron walked over to Wade, who was making final checks on the portable laser grid system.

"Wade, you still planning to fire that up tonight?"

"I'm thinking I'd better wait, Ron, before I turn it up to full strength. What I _can_ do is activate the perimeter grids in invisible detection mode and plug the alert system into my communications console. That way, we'll both be alerted if any unauthorized persons attempt to enter the room."

"Sounds like a plan. Wanna ride?"

"That'd be great. You mind if we swing by that all-night convenience store? I'd like to grab a "Giant Slurpster" to have when I get back to my room."

Kim quietly lay in her bed, her eyes not yet fully adjusted to the room light. She could hear Ron and Wade talking, but was only able to catch bits and pieces of what they were saying.

"Okay, you two, what's the big secret?"

"What do you mean, Kim? We're not hiding anything", replied Ron somewhat defensively.

"Uh-huh. R-i-g-h-t. You know, Wade, you still haven't told me what was so important that you were willing to leave your room to come visit me here at the hospital?"

"Kim, it's like I told Ron: if I was willing to leave my room after Team Impossible fried my system, don't you think I'd do the same for you?"

"Wade, that's awfully sweet, and I don't want to sound ungrateful, but my "Kim-sense" is telling me there's more than what you've told me. Am I right?"

Wade sighed, pulled up a chair beside Kim's bed and sat down. "Yeah, you're right: there's more. Ron, I think you'd better tell Kim the rest."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because you were the one who was so concerned about the supposed e-mail and you're the reason I came down to the hospital."

Wade and Ron continued this argument for a few more rounds until Kim declared a cease-fire. "Ron, _you_ tell me the rest. If I have any questions, I'm sure Wade can answer them."

Ron related to Kim all that happened to her after she was hit by the taser, including the parts about the "Wanted" e-mail message. And, where necessary, Wade filled in gaps or explained certain parts in more detail.

"So, Wade, you think the e-mail was a hoax, but you're still setting up this grid system, just in case", Kim observed.

"Well, at first I was just doing it for Ron, but I've had a few more hours to think about things and, frankly, I'm no longer sure that e-mail _was_ a hoax."

"But Wade, you said so yourself that if it _was_ legit, you would have detected it the moment the "Send:" button was clicked, and Middleton would be crawling with villains by now."

"Kim, it might not have been a _mass_-mailing. It could have been an e-mail sent individually to people already in the Middleton area, used a phony subject heading, and the "Wanted" portion could have been an attached file --- an encrypted .PDF document, for instance --- which my e-mail detection system might not have detected or been able to scan to read the contents."

"Okay… ", interjected Ron. "Aside from Wade just making me wonder if he's reading _my_ e-mail… "

"Only _scanning_ them, Ron. I just do it to make sure you're doing what I asked and restricting all mission-related messaging to the Ronnunicator."

"…correction, _scanning_ my e-mail, I still don't think we should take chances. While Kim's here at the hospital and while she's recovering at home, I really think we should have her protected by your grid system."

"_What_ grid system?" Mr. Possible had returned to the hospital and reentered Kim's patient room unobserved.

"Oh! Hi, Dad!" a somewhat startled Kim greeted her father. "Wow, you're fast!"

"Well, Kimmie, there's not a whole lot of traffic on the road this early on a Saturday morning, so even your slow-poke Dad can manage to get home and back fairly quickly", said Kim's father with a grin.

"Now, tell me a little more about this "grid system" you were just discussing."

Wade went into a technical explanation of how the system worked, and Mr. Possible was clearly impressed at how far Wade had come in miniaturizing the system. Ron then talked about the "Wanted" e-mail and his feeling that Kim should be protected regardless of whether or not the e-mail was genuine.

"While I have some serious doubts about that e-mail, Ron, I agree: there's no point in unnecessarily taking chances. Wade, let's go over the system: I want you to make it fully operational, not just a monitoring device, and then give Ron and me some onsite training. You two up to that before heading home for some sleep?"

"Definitely!" answered Wade and Ron in unison.

Wade went over to the onsite controller and began making adjustments to change from monitor mode to full operational. Mr. Possible stood beside him, listening and observing while Wade explained each aspect of the unit. Meanwhile, Ron, knowing he was clearly out of his league, decided to stay over beside Kim's bed.

"You know", commented Kim, "you three are simply amazing."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yeah, KP, actually, there is", Ron reached down and took Kim's right hand in his left, cupped her chin in his right hand and gently tilted her head so he could look straight into her eyes. "You can rest, relax and allow God to heal that marvelous body of yours." He then leaned over and planted a long, warm, loving kiss upon her lips.

"Okay, Doctor Stoppable", replied Kim with a sigh. "Whatever you say."


	15. Chapter 15

As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

The remainder of the night was comparatively uneventful. 

Wade double-checked the biometric sensor and settings to make certain that he, Kim, Ron, along Mr. and Mrs. Possible could disable the grid at both the room entrance and at the patient bed as well as with the handheld control.

Once everything was set, Ron and Wade said their "Good Nights" and headed home, but not before swinging by the 24-Hour convenience store to get Wade a Giant Slurpster.

With Ron's car parked and idling in front of Wade's house, he and Ron reviewed their plans for the remainder of the weekend.

"Ron, I'll do a remote systems check and complete set of diagnostics as soon as I get up to my room. If there are any problems, I'll call you on the Ronnunicator. Then I'll get hold of the Middleton Police and see if they've impounded those thugs' computer for evidence. I want to take a look at the Internet Header of that "Wanted" e-mail message."

"Will that tell you if the message was real?" asked Ron.

"It might, but I doubt it'll be that easy. What the Internet Header _will_ do is give me some definite clues where to begin digging."

"Well, call or beep me if you dig up something big. I'm heading home to shower and crash. I promised Mr. Dr. P. that I'd relieve him for watch duties at eleven o'clock."

Turning to Wade, Ron reached across the console and they exchanged a "brother" handshake. "Thanks, bro', for always being there for me and Kim."

Ron waited until Wade had walked up the driveway and entered his house, then did a U-turn and drove home.

While the drive from Wade's to Ron's house wasn't more than ten minutes, it was a lonely ride without Kim or Rufus for company.

"Man, what a night! After everything that happened, I'm wondering if maybe guardian angels aren't just a Catholic thing. Wade, Felix and Monique sure were _my_ guardian angels tonight. I'm going to have to talk with Rabbi Katz about that sometime."

Ron powered on his car stereo, punched the first FM station memory button and cranked up the volume. The car came with an older Pioneer system that, although lacking a cool-looking multi-colored display and other bells and whistles, had a hyper-sensitive FM tuner and overall specs that put all but the most expensive new systems to shame. All that was lacking was a thumping subwoofer, and Wade's dad, who was something of a car stereo audiophile, had promised to watch the online auctions for a unit.

A few songs later, Ron pulled his car up the Stoppable driveway, parked, and went inside. The shower was great, the clean clothes felt fantastic and the fresh bed sheets were heavenly. He was sound asleep and snoring away moments after his head hit the pillow.

* * *

Back at the hospital, Mr. Possible and Kim were having a little late-night father/daughter talk. 

"Dad, thanks for staying here with me tonight."

"It's been a long time since I've stayed up with you at night. In fact, the last time I remember us doing it was for a science project of yours, when you needed to use the high-powered telescope at the Mount Middleton Observatory. I think you were in Seventh Grade at the time… "

"Eighth Grade, Dad, but close enough", corrected Kim with a grin.

"That's right. I was able to get you access and decided to come along, figuring you would appreciate the company… "

"Which I _did_, by the way."

"…and hopefully help you stay awake until you had finished your assignment."

"Which you did, Dad, although it wasn't _exactly_ the way I expected you to do it. You started yawning soon after we got there, sat down in one of the chairs, pulled up an ottoman and after maybe ten minutes you were fast asleep --- and snoring."

"Oh, I wasn't _that_ loud, was I?"

"Well, the acoustics of the Observatory probably made it sound louder than it actually was, but even if you take that into account you were _plenty_ loud, Dad."

"But it _worked_, didn't it?"

"It worked _great_, Dad. I had _no_ trouble staying awake and _lots_ of motivation to get the assignment done as quickly as possible. After that I understood why Mom would sometimes end up sleeping on the couch in the family room."

"…or why yours truly would end up sleeping out there. It all depends upon who had the rougher day at work and, since even that can be debatable, it frequently comes down to a coin toss. That's one of those things they don't teach in Marriage Preparation Class."

Mr. Possible stood up from his chair, leaned over the bed and gave his daughter a loving hug.

"I think it's time you got some more rest, Kimmie. I'm going to dim the lights, get myself situated and read a little before calling it a night."

"Okay, Dad. 'Nite. Love you."

"I love you too, Kim."

Lying there in bed, Kim slipped out the Kimmunicator from under the covers and typed herself a short journal message. As she was doing so, she checked the Kimmunicator's digital clock display. After finishing the message, she closed her eyes and her thoughts turned to Ron. She hoped he was getting a good night's sleep. She was also _very_ much looking forward to him coming back later in the day to "stand watch".

Her train of thought was interrupted by a loud snort. Glancing at the Kimmunicator's digital clock, she smiled and wrote in the journal "Four minutes, twenty-three seconds. Well, that's another million you owe me."

* * *

Sunrise at the Possible home was greeted by the sound of eggs being beaten, pancake batter being mixed and sausage sizzling on the stove. Kathleen Possible had never been much for sleeping in Saturdays, even as a child, and this particular Saturday, with two unexpected overnight guests, she decided an extra special breakfast was in order. 

The twins _were_ accustomed to sleeping in whenever they could but the sound and smell of breakfast were enough to wake and lure them into the kitchen even at this early hour.

"'morning, Mom", said Jim, rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning, Jim. And a good morning to you too, Tim. Did you both get a good night's sleep?" asked Mrs. Possible.

Tim yawned and scratched his head, "_I_ sure did."

"Then you should be raring to go for the J-V soccer tryouts. Why don't you two boys go shower and get dressed? Breakfast should be on the table in about fifteen minutes."

"Okay, Mom", the twins replied in unison and headed out the kitchen to their bedroom. A moment later, they reappeared with puzzled looks on their faces.

"Mom, why is Mrs. Stoppable sleeping on the couch?" inquired Jim.

"Well, Jim, let's just say for now that Kim and Ron had a rather _unusual_ night last night. We'll talk about it over breakfast. Now, go shower."

Walking back down the hallway toward their bedroom, Tim whispered to Jim, "What do you think happened to Kim and Ron last night?" Entering their bedroom, Jim answered the question with a question, "I don't know. You don't suppose they got picked up again by the cops for breaking curfew and Dad let them stay in jail overnight?" Tim quietly laughed, "Wouldn't _that_ be rich? I wonder how long he'll wait 'til he bails them out?"

The twins weren't the only ones awaken by the sounds and smells emanating from the kitchen. Rufus wasn't far behind Jim and Tim, headed in the kitchen door the second time they were headed out.

"Good morning, Rufus", greeted Mrs. Possible after taking a sip of coffee. "You look like you slept well. Since you didn't come out with the twins, I'm guessing you were up on Kim's bed last night."

"Not only that, Kate, but he was curled up under the covers snuggling with Kim's Pand-Roo."

Kathleen turned to see Rachel Stoppable standing in the kitchen doorway, leaning against the doorframe.

"I hope Kim doesn't mind", continued Rachel. "Rufus just looked so natural and cute and I would have hated to wake him."

"Oh, I'm sure Kim wouldn't mind a bit, Rachel. Did you sleep okay? That couch isn't the most comfortable thing to sleep on. I ought to know. I've had to sleep on it many a night when Jim would fall asleep before me. His snoring tends to keep me awake."

"I slept just fine, Kate." Rachel poured herself a cup of coffee and properly doctored it. "Did Ron come here last night?"

"Not that I could see", replied Kathleen.

"He'd be out here drooling over the pancakes and sausage by now if he _was_ here", commented Rachel. "I suspect he's at home if he didn't stay the night at the hospital."

"Ron told Jim that he'd be at the hospital by eleven o'clock to relieve him from "watch duty". Should we call over there and invite him for breakfast?"

"I appreciate the offer, Kate, but I'd imagine Ron would rather have a few more hours of sleep. Let's make him a plate. I'll take it over to him later and he can microwave it before he goes to the hospital."

"What time does Jon's flight get in?"

"It's a non-stop that leaves about two-forty and gets in here about four-thirty. He left his car parked out at the airport, so as long as he can find it, I'm looking for him around dinner time."

* * *

A time zone away, Jon and Bob Zimmerman were sharing breakfast in Orlando. 

"Wow, Jon, sounds like that was _too_ close for comfort."

"Yeah, it was, Bob, and they weren't even out on a mission. This time the trouble found _them_."

"How is Rachel handling it?"

"Like a trooper, as always. When Ron first called, she wanted to rush down to the hospital. Ron said he was fine and urged her to go over to Kim's home and watch her twin brothers so their parents could go down to the hospital."

"You have quite a son there, Jon."

"Yeah, I guess he has a lot of his mother in him…"

"…along with a good deal of his father. If you won't give yourself any credit, Jon, then I'll gladly do it for you. Ron is who he is in no small part because he has two terrific parents in you and Rachel."

"Well, turnabout is fair play, Bob. Your wonderful daughter Mary is who she is thanks largely to you and Alicia. And _that_, my friend, is a perfect lead-in to you telling me what you've been up to since NYU."

"Still won't let me off the hook, will you, Jon?"

"Not a chance. There's still almost three hours before I need to head to the airport. That should be plenty of time, even for you", Jonathan said with a big grin.

"So, Jon, where should I begin? Well, as you may remember, I was dating Alicia, who you remember was going to Columbia University, when you and I graduated. Like you, I wanted to hold off proposing until after I got my first job."

"As we both remember only too well, the economy was in recession then, so the job market was tight. Thankfully, my dad had some connections, called in a few favors, and by mid-July I was hired on with a firm in the City. The week after I started, I bought a ring, took Alicia out to a nice restaurant in mid-Manhattan, and proposed to her on bended knee."

"From there everything just seemed to fall right into place. We chose the beginning of November for the wedding to allow time for preparation. Alicia graduated after summer session and within a few weeks incredibly landed an entry-level position in her field. We somehow managed to find a clean, affordable apartment about the same length of commute from each of our jobs. Like I said, it was remarkable how things came together…."

" …it was a rough pregnancy, but both of our folks helped out and covered the medical bills. Alicia wanted to name her "Mary Elizabeth". I had no objections. I figured if when she grew up she got tired of being called "Mary", she could always go by "Elizabeth", or "Liz" or "Beth"."

"What's she look like? I sure hope she got her mother's looks and not yours."

Bob laughed. "Oh, don't worry. She has her mother's looks alright, although she does have my blonde hair."

"You mean what _used_ to be your blonde hair, right?"

"Yeah. Let's just hope she didn't inherit my receding hairline."

"And you said she's a senior this year, graduating mid-term and headed to Coastal Carolina University on a full-ride scholarship, correct?"

"Good memory there, Jon. Yeah, Mary's about ready to leave the nest."

"Any other kids?"

"No. For whatever reason, we were allotted just one. Not that we didn't _try_ to have more. It just never happened."

"How's Alicia doing?"

"She's doing great. Once Mary started school, Alicia took on some part-time work but wanted to be there when Mary came home. Now that Mary's about to head off to college, Alicia is pondering whether or not to go full-time. I've told her not to rush into a decision. We're doing fine money-wise."

"And what have you been up to all this time?" asked Jonathan.

"Oh, I stayed at my first job until the economy picked back up, then I got on with a larger firm in the City a little closer to home. I stayed there for another five years or so, while I built up my own actuarial business on the side. The summer after Mary graduated from junior high, we moved out of the City and bought a place in north Jersey. I've been running my own actuarial business out of my home office ever since."

"So, Jon, with all that went on overnight, did you get a chance to talk with Rachel about having another hairless member of the family for a couple years or so?"

"Yeah, Bob, we discussed it and, while we haven't checked with Ron or Rufus, it's a "go" unless you hear from us otherwise. I'm planning to spring the surprise on Ron and Rufus tonight over dinner."

"Fantastic! Mary will be _so_ excited! I don't know if I told you, but she's had a _huge_ crush on Ron through most of high school."

"Uh, Bob. About that: are you aware that Ron and Kim are now seriously dating?"

"No, Jon, I _wasn't_ aware of that."

"I figured as much. It's one of those "minor details" that isn't general public knowledge outside of Middleton and they'd rather it stay that way."

"Well, that will definitely put a damper on her enthusiasm. Would you rather I didn't tell her about that part, and just have Raquel shipped out?"

"That's up to you, Bob, but as far as I'm concerned Mary is welcome to come. I just don't want her get there with certain expectations only to be hurt or disappointed."

"Jon, I'll be sure to tell her. Besides, it's only a _crush_. She's a senior now. I'm sure she'll get over it just fine."


	16. Chapter 16

As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

The McHenry Laser Grid system appeared to have done its job overnight. Aside from some grumbling by the Overnight ICU Nurse that the glow of the laser beams made the unit seem rather eerie, all was quiet. 

James had awakened before Kim. After disabling and re-enabling the grid to hunt down some coffee, he sat studying his beloved "Kimmie Cub" as she lay sleeping in her hospital bed.

Two years ago, when Kim and Frederick, the monkey astronaut, had rescued Ron from the space station, he at last began to accept that she was no longer "Daddy's Little Girl". Now she was a senior, about to turn eighteen, and soon would be going away to college. On top of all that, what everyone had hoped for (even himself, deep down, although he tried to put up a good front) had finally happened: Kim and Ron were now dating.

Yes, he was _very_ happy Kim and Ron were now officially a couple. As goofy and childish as Ron could be at times, after close to twelve years, nearly five of them as Kim's "sidekick", James genuinely felt he knew Ron and could trust him. His comments at home and in the car about the attack perhaps being Ron's fault _were_ out of line. Thankfully, he at least had the sense _not_ to repeat them in Ron's presence.

After the near catastrophe last spring with Dr. Drakken and Eric, James at last plainly saw that Ron is _good_ for Kim. As difficult was it was to admit, he had "fallen" almost as hard for Eric as Kim's boyfriend as she had herself. Eric was everything James wanted for Kim: bright, good-looking, athletic, and socially graceful; everything that Ron was _not_. While Kathleen had expressed some doubts, James was quite convinced that Eric was "the one".

What Eric lacked --- aside from being human, of course --- that Ron _does_ have were the two things that in the end led to Eric's and Drakken's downfall: a heart of gold and a knowledge of and love for Kim that compels him to do anything he can for her, even to the point of giving his life to save hers.

Just as Kim was making the transition from teenage girl to young woman, James had seen encouraging signs the past three months that Ron was himself rapidly maturing and would hopefully soon be prepared to take the leap from boyhood to manhood.

James was getting ready to disable the laser grid system and make another coffee run when Kim began to stir.

"Good morning, sleepy head", James teasingly greeted his daughter.

"'morning, Dad", Kim replied with a yawn. "How long have you been up?"

"Oh, about an hour or so. I've been relaxing with my coffee, enjoying some quiet time with my sleeping beauty of a daughter. How are you feeling?"

"Groggy… and sore."

"Well, a little more time to wake up and a good breakfast should take care of the grogginess. The soreness may take a bit longer to go away. I was just about to go get some more coffee. I can find a breakfast menu for you if you'd like."

"That'd be great, Dad. Could you also look for some hot tea for me? I'll take some Green Tea if they have it."

"Will do, Kimmie. Be back in a jiffy."

Dried "100 daily nutrition" cereal, skim milk, low-fat strawberry fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt and a glass of orange juice were not exactly James Possible's idea of a Saturday morning breakfast. However, when Kim ordered hers and he said "I'll have the same", his intentions were good. He wanted this extremely rare father/daughter breakfast to be extra special. If that meant making a small sacrifice or two, fine. Besides, his wife had been lovingly reminding him that cutting back on fat to lower his high cholesterol would sooner or later have to include Saturday mornings.

Once breakfast was finished, Kim was taken in a wheelchair out of ICU to have additional tests performed --- some new, some repeats --- to determine what if any damage had resulted from the taser attack.

While she was gone, James called home to both deliver a status report and get one.

"Possible residence."

"Rachel?"

"Oh, hi, Jim. Kate and the twins left for Jim and Tim's J-V soccer tryouts. They're expecting to be back in a couple of hours. How's Kim doing?"

"So far as I can tell, Kim's doing fantastic. She woke up feeling rather sore, but that's to be expected. Otherwise, she had a good appetite and downed what was for her a normal-sized breakfast. The hospital staff just took her to do some more tests. I'm hoping that her doctor will stop in later and update us on the results. How are things at the house?"

"Well, the twins slept straight through the night. The news about Kim clearly shook them and Rufus up but they were obviously relieved to hear how quickly she is recovering. All three are anxious to come down later to pay her a visit. Jim, did Ron stay there with you and Kim or did he head home?"

"Ron took Wade home and planned to go to your house to shower and sleep."

"That's what Kate and I figured, but I thought I'd ask, just in case. Rufus and I will be headed home as soon as I finish cleaning up the kitchen."

"Rachel, that's really not necessary."

"It's like I said last night, Jim: You and Kate need to concentrate on getting Kim back on her feet. If there's anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to ask, okay?"

"Okay. And, yet again, thank you. When you see Ron, tell him that Kim's r-e-a-l-l-y looking forward to his taking over watch duties."

"I'll be sure to pass along the message. No doubt the feeling is mutual."

* * *

"Dah-Dah-Daah-Dah!" 

The familiar beep sequence of the Ronnunicator woke Ron out of a deep, deep sleep.

One eyelid partially opened.

"Dah-Dah-Daah-Dah!"

The other eyelid partially opened.

"Real Life calling, Ron", he groaned to himself. "Better see who it is."

Stretching his arm over to his nightstand, Ron could barely reach the corner of the Ronnunicator with his right index finger.

"Dah-Dah-Daah-Dah!"

"Alright already! I'm coming!"

Using his index finger, he dragged the Ronnunicator across the top of the nightstand until there was enough in reach to grab with all his fingers, then dragged it further until he could grab it with his entire hand.

"Dah-Dah-Daah-Dah!"

"What's the sitch, Wade?"

"You okay, Ron? I beeped you four times before you answered."

"I'm fine. Woke up out of a deep sleep, that's all, and Rufus wasn't here to shake me awake. What's up?"

"Thought I should call and give you the latest on that "Wanted" e-mail."

"So, is it real or fake?"

"I'm afraid I'm still not sure about that. However, it _was_ a direct e-mail message, not a message to a bunch of e-mail addresses at all one time. I'm working traces from here while a couple of pals of mine are working different angles to see if they can trace it. Thus far, beyond agreeing it originated from somewhere in Asia, none of us has found the source, so I guess it remains a mystery."

"What about the three thugs? Did the police get anything out of them?"

"The ringleader and the one I zapped are not cooperating. The police are trying to get the other one to turn over against the other two others in exchange for a reduced sentence."

"Where'd they get the taser and the stun gun?"

"The stun gun is off-the-shelf. You can buy those on the Internet for less than a hundred bucks. The taser appears to be a standard model that someone modified. The police let me scan it for specs. Whoever did the modifications did a good job; too good, in fact. Had the ringleader kept pressing the trigger for three more seconds, we might all be preparing for Kim's funeral."

"Thank God he didn't."

"Amen to that, bro'."

"Since we still don't know whether or not that e-mail was genuine or a fake, I think we'd better keep the grid system active while Kim's in the hospital and maybe even for a few days at home until she's on her feet."

"Agreed. I've been drawing up some design changes to be made when we move the system to the Possible home. The main one is taking into account that the entry to Kim's bedroom is through the floor."

"Way ahead of things as usual, Wade."

The sound of the door to the garage could be heard opening.

"Sounds like Mom's home from the Possibles. I guess I'll go say "Hi". Again, beep me if you have any more news."

"Will do."

Even before Ron could get one leg out from underneath the bedcovers, Rufus had made a beeline from the car to the bedroom and with a "Yeea-aaah!" flung himself up on top of Ron.

"Rufus! How's my good buddy doing? You miss me?"

"Oh, he _definitely_ missed you, Ron", spoke Rachel Stoppable, standing in the bedroom doorway. "Ever since I told him you would still be here when we came back home, he's been bouncing up and down and jabbering non-stop. I barely had the garage door to the kitchen open a crack when he took off like a shot."

"Well, I missed you too, buddy. How much did you tell him about last night, Mom?"

"The same we told Jim and Tim: the basic facts without getting into a lot of frightening details", answered Mrs. Stoppable. "We talked about it over breakfast. Speaking of which, Kim's mother and I put together a plate for you, if you're hungry. There are pancakes, a couple of eggs and some sausage. All you'll need to do is microwave it."

"Yum! Sounds great! Thanks, Mom! I think I'll jump in the shower first, then have breakfast."

Ron glanced at his alarm clock.

"Oh, man! I better get moving. I promised Mr. Dr. P. I'd relieve him at eleven and I need to make a couple of stops on the way there."

* * *

"Dad, how many more tests do they have to _do_ on me?" complained Kim. "I'm feeling _fine_. In fact, if they'd let me, I'd go home today rather than stay here another night or two "under observation"." 

"Kim, they only want to make sure you actually _are_ okay, that's all. The shock from that taser might have done some damage that either can't be easily detected or might not show up for a day or two after the attack."

Kim sighed. "I know it's all for my own good. I just hate lying around here in the hospital when I could be up doing something; anything."

"Even chores?" asked her father.

"Yeah, even chores."

"You must _really_ be desperate if you'd even be willing to do _chores_ to get out of here, Kim", chuckled Mr. Possible.

"So you'll ask the doctor if I can leave today?"

"Kim, if the doctor says you need to stay another night or two, I'm not going to argue with him."

"But Dad….?"

"H-o-w-e-v-e-r, if he says it's up to us whether you stay or go home, then you have my vote for you to come home… "

"Hurray!" yelled Kim.

"… b-u-t you'll still need to take it easy the rest of the weekend and slowly ease back into things at school next week. Deal?"

"Deal! Thanks, Dad."

"Oh, and one more thing, Kim. About those chores you said you'd be willing to do…"

"_D-a-a-a-d_."

* * *

Anxious as he was to get down to the hospital to see Kim and relieve Mr. Possible from watch duties, Ron knew better than to go there empty-handed. There would need to be two stops along the way. One stop was quick, as he knew exactly what he wanted to get there. The same could not be said for the second stop. 

Entering the shop, a bell chimed overhead. Ron walked up to the counter.

"Good morning! Is there something I could help you with today?" asked the lady behind the counter with a very friendly smile.

"Uh, yeah. Actually, there is", Ron answered, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm looking for something that would be appropriate to give to someone in the hospital."

"Oh, is that someone a member of your family, perhaps your father or mother?"

"No."

"A brother or sister, maybe?"

"No."

"Some other relative, then. Could it be a grandparent, uncle, aunt or cousin?"

"No, she's not a relative; at least not just _yet_, anyway."

"Ahhh! So this someone is a close friend of yours, maybe a girlfriend?"

"Yeah. She was badly hurt Friday night but is in the hospital recovering. I'm going to visit her today and would like to bring along something that's says more than just "Get Well". I want it to say just how much I care for her and how grateful I am that she's getting better."

"Well, I believe I have something that would be just _perfect_. It'll take a few minutes put together, so go ahead and make yourself comfortable."

"Thank you, ma'am."

Ron sat down in a chair at the front of the shop, picked up the Saturday edition of the Middleton newspaper and scanned the front page. He and Kim had dealt enough with the paper's staff to know that there was only one daily edition, and it would have been "put to bed" before the attack Friday night. That was why there was no mention of it in Saturday's paper.

Middleton didn't have its own Sunday edition, as it could not compete with the nearby metropolitan Sunday paper, so the earliest any news of the attack would be in the local paper would be Monday. By then, Kim should be home and Wade would hopefully have a firm answer to the "is the "Wanted" e-mail real or fake" question.

The lady returned to the counter and called Ron up.

"Is this more or less what you had in mind?" she asked.

"W-h-o-o-o-a…!" responded Ron in astonishment. "Uh, yeah, I'd say that _was_ what I had in mind. That is, if money wasn't a question. Maybe I should have told you how much I had to spend _before_ you did all this."

"What _were_ you planning to spend?" the lady asked, with just a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Um, to be honest, ma'am, I only have ten bucks, and that I had to borrow from my mom."

"Tell you what, Ron. You go ahead and keep the ten. Consider this "on the house"."

Now Ron was _completely_ speechless. "But… ma'am…"

"Ron, just consider it a small token of appreciation from me for all that you and Kim do. I know what happened last night. My sister works in ER at the hospital and was on duty when they wheeled Kim in. She called me after her shift and asked that I pray for both of you. Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone else nor will I."

"Ma'am, I don't know what to say?"

"Just say "Thank you", Ron."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"It's my pleasure, Ron. One thing that you _could_ use that ten for would be a nice bottle of sparkling white grape juice. It's non-alcoholic, so the ICU nurse won't object. The store down the street sells it already chilled."

"Oh, and by the way, while I don't recognize the smell of whatever it is you're carrying, all that cologne isn't masking it."

"Thank you, ma'am. For everything."

"You're welcome, Ron. Just know you and Kim are always in my prayers."

Walking sideways out the door, Ron again heard the bell jingle overhead.

Once out on the sidewalk, he looked down at his pants pocket and spoke. "Rufus, I _told_ you Dad's cologne wouldn't hide naked mole rat smell."

Popping out, Rufus apologized. "S-o-r-r-y."

"Let's hope the hospital staff's sense of smell isn't as good. Otherwise, good buddy, I'm afraid you'll be hitching a ride back home with Mr. Dr. P. Let's go get that grape juice."


	17. Chapter 17

As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

Kim was sitting up in her hospital bed, her knees tucked under her chin with her arms wrapped around her legs. The clock on the wall seemed to be advancing at about the same pace as the one did back in her freshman year, when she served her one and only detention: v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.

Time seemed to speed up for awhile when Felix and Monique dropped by around nine-thirty to check in on Kim. She was thrilled to see them and made certain to thank them for all they did the previous night, especially for Felix's nick-of-time actions that in all likelihood saved Ron's life.

Monique had brought along a bag of goodies from the local donut shop, including Kim's all-time favorite: a chocolate éclair stuffed with genuine whipped cream. They stayed for about fifteen minutes before excusing themselves. Monique was scheduled to close at Club Banana. Felix planned to spend the day testing a new pair of robotic arms that he and his mother had developed for his cybertronic wheelchair and then fly out to the mall and pick up Monique after she got off work.

That left Kim alone once again with her father. It wasn't that she didn't _enjoy_ this one-on-one time. She did. It's just that she and Ron hadn't spent any time alone with each other since before last night's attack, and there were some things she really wanted to share with him. One thing she especially wanted to say was that, especially during this stay in ICU, but even in the days and weeks since the Prom, she has sensed a growing realization that, while he was still her best friend and now boyfriend, he was becoming even more than that. He was her "other half", her "soul mate".

Eleven o'clock couldn't come soon enough.

As Kim was pondering all this, James Possible was off on another coffee run, this time preceded by a side trip to the Men's Restroom. It had been a wonderful morning with her daughter, a very _special_ time. Yet he too was now anxious for eleven o'clock to roll around. His daughter seemed to be fully recovered from last night's attack. Now it was just a matter of the doctor giving her clearance to go home. Frankly, he needed a shower, and then hopefully a nap on the sofa, with some college football on the big screen to keep him company.

Returning to Kim's patient room, James pulled the laser grid controller out of his pocket and pressed the button to deactivate the system. Walking briskly over to his bedside chair, he then turned and pressed the controller button to reactivate the grid. James sat down, took a sip of coffee and glanced up at the clock on the wall: 10:25. Thirty-five minutes, just enough time for one more father-daughter talk before Ron arrived.

"So, Kimmie, are you and Ron straightened away yet on your post-high school plans?" asked Mr. Possible.

"Well, we have agreed he will go to culinary school", answered Kim. "But that's been a given since Day One. The other thing we _seem_ to be in agreement on is we'd like to go _away_ to school."

"Away. As in out-of town away, out-of-state away or out-of-the-country away?" questioned Mr. Possible.

"Most likely either out-of-state or out-of-the-country", Kim replied.

"Any particular reason _why_? I mean, I understand there's a _very_ good culinary school just a few hours from here, nestled up in the mountains at two well-known resort towns."

"Sounds like you've been doing a little school research of your _own_, Dad."

"Oh, maybe a _little_. Kim, it's no secret that Ron wants to go straight to culinary school. I'll admit I've spent some time on the Internet seeing if there were any schools local or nearby. So has your mother, by the way, and Ron's mom says she and Mr. Stoppable have been doing some culinary web surfing as well."

"What _is_ this? Some sort of _conspiracy_?" Kim asked with a laugh.

"You could call it that, I suppose", replied her father. "We're only doing what millions of parents do when their daughter or son is about to leave the nest, so to speak: try to delay things as long as we can. Nana Possible had a hard time when _I_ left home for college. She told me several years later that she did all she could to subtly convince me to go to school nearby, but I was bound and determined to strike out on my own. Of course, I was too busy getting ready to head out to take notice. She understood, because she did almost the _exact_ same thing after _she_ graduated from high school. Nana warned me that payback would come some day, and, as she usually is, she was right."

"Dad, I want you to understand that it's not you, or Mom, or even --- I can't believe I'm actually _saying_ this --- the Tweebs", Kim explained. "It's not Middleton, either. As long as you and Mom are here, Middleton will _always_ be home. Ron feels the same way. It's just that we'd both like to experience living somewhere else."

"But you and Ron have literally been all over the _world_, Kim", exclaimed Mr. Possible. "Heck, you've been to more countries than the President or the Pope!"

"You're right, Dad. We _have_ been seemly everywhere, but only for a day or two while on a mission. The only time either of us has actually _lived_ somewhere else was when Ron spent that week in Yamanouchi, Japan, last year as part of the student exchange program."

"What about all your friends here in Middleton, Kim?" asked Mr. Possible.

"Well, Felix says he's planning to stay in Middleton, go to school and --- Ahem! --- if a certain world-famous rocket scientist can pull some strings at the lab", Kim not-too-subtly hinted. "Felix would like to work with his mom on developing a prototype of a mass-producible version of his wheelchair."

"Felix's mom and I have already discussed it", said Mr. Possible. "Consider the strings pulled. Only don't tell Felix. It's supposed to be a _surprise_."

Kim ignored doctor's orders, hopped out of bed and gave her father a great big hug. "Dad, you're the best!"

Not wanting the Day Shift Nurse to catch her out of bed, Kim jumped right back in and rearranged her bedding like she never got out.

"Since Felix will stay here, Monique's going to keep working at Club Banana", Kim continued. "She's been promised a full-time eight-to-five position after graduation plus she'll be put on their "management track". That'll free up her evenings and weekends to work on her fashion design business."

"As for Josh and Tara, Josh _really_ wants to go art school and get at least a Master's degree so he can teach while running his own studio. He's applied at some top-notch schools in California, Montana, New York and Boston and is pretty sure he'll be accepted. Where he goes will depend mainly on who offers the most financial aid."

"Tara's only sure about one thing right now: wherever _Josh_ goes, _she_ goes."

"What about your missions? What's Wade think of you and Ron going away to school?" asked Mr. Possible.

"As always, Wade is _way_ ahead of things", Kim replied. "The Kimmunicator and Ronnunicator are both completely modular, so it's literally a snap to upgrade them. Any time he comes up with an upgraded module or a new one, he'll ship it to us via a GJ courier along with instructions. That's also how he plans to deliver us any new mission gear. Oh, and he has in the works units for you and Mom along with Ron's parents so any of you can call us or beep us, when you want to reach us."

Mr. Possible let out a very audible sigh. "Well, it does seem you two have covered all the bases. _So_ far."

* * *

Ron knew he was cutting things close when he pulled his car into the hospital parking lot. The clock on the Ronnunicator screen said "10:56 AM". That gave him less than four minutes to park, grab the flowers and bottle of sparkling grape juice, dash inside and somehow slip past the main desk and the ICU desk without Rufus being discovered. "Piece of cake", he said to himself.

Gathering up the flowers and juice, Ron waited for Rufus to jump out before closing the car door. Rufus then crept down Ron's paints leg into his usual pocket "home".

"Now, good buddy, you need to keep still and not make a sound. If anyone inside hears you squeak or sees you squirm around, we're done for and you'll have to head back home with Mr. Dr. P. Got that?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Great! Now let's go see Kim!"

The automatic outside doors at the main entrance whooshed open as Ron triggered the electronic sensor and then closed behind him. A few steps further and the inside doors did the same.

The main hospital desk was to Ron's right as he entered. Being a Saturday, the hospital was running at reduced staffing levels, a situation he hoped would work in his favor.

Approaching the desk, Ron smiled and greeted the woman behind the counter. "Good morning! My name is Ron Stoppable and I'm here to visit a patient in ICU, Kim Possible."

The woman turned to the computer monitor, typed in Kim's name and pulled up her record from the hospital database.

"Oh, yes, Mr. Stoppable, I see you have permission to visit Miss Possible. Give me a few moments to print out your visitor's pass and then you can be on your way."

"So far, so good", thought Ron. "Stay cool, dude, and you'll be in Kim's room in no time".

A thermal printer could be seen on the back counter churning out Ron's visitor pass. The woman got up, stepped back to the counter and tore off the printout, slipped it in a plastic pin-on I.D. sleeve, then turned and handed it to Ron.

"Here's your pass, Mr. Stoppable. I hope you have a pleasant visit." As Ron was pinning the pass onto his shirt, he saw the pleasant, friendly smile on the woman's face suddenly change to a slightly repulsed puzzled expression.

"Oh, great", thought Ron. "She smells Rufus. We're dead."

"Excuse me, sir, but what _is_ that _smell_?" she asked.

"Oh, that's some cologne I borrowed from my dad", replied Ron, hoping she'd accept the answer. "I think I might have overdone it a little."

"No, I smell the cologne, sir. There's _another_ smell; an _odor_, actually."

"Uh, well, I forgot this morning that when I put on the cologne there's some sort of strange chemical reaction that produces an odor", Ron explained. "I've been told it has something to do with my body chemistry."

"If you'll pardon me for being so frank, sir, it smells like a dead rat", she commented.

Rufus let out a very audible "Grrrrr" in response to her comment.

"What was that _sound_?" the woman asked.

Ron had to think fast. "Oh, that was my stomach growling. I haven't eaten much the last day or so."

"Funny. I'd swear that sounded like an animal growling", she observed, scratching her head. "Strange. _Very_ strange. Well, if you're _that_ hungry, they will start serving lunch in the cafeteria at eleven-thirty. Oh, and you might want to think about getting a different brand of cologne for yourself."

"Thank you, ma'am, for the advice. I'll be sure to do that the next chance I get", Ron said, quite relieved.

Spinning away from the desk, Ron set off down the hallway to ICU.

* * *

"Man, that was _close_!" thought Ron. "Way to go there, Stoppable. Those two explanations definitely deserve a "Boo-yah!"."

Ron came to a halt just short of the ICU entrance, took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. "Just stay as far away from the ICU desk as you can", he thought. "And hope the Day Nurse isn't downwind."

Acting as nonchalant as possible, Ron pushed open the door and entered the Unit. The Day Nurse was nowhere to be seen.

"Boo-yah!" whispered Ron to himself. He triumphantly walked over to Kim's patient room. As he approached, he could hear Kim and Mr. Possible speaking. "That Ron is late _again_", grumbled Mr. Possible. "Dad, it's only eleven-oh-three", Kim pointed out. "If he shows up right now it would actually be _early_ for him."

Taking his cue, Ron sprang into the room doorway.

"And here he is!" Ron exclaimed, a huge grin on his face.

"Well, well. About _time_!" commented Mr. Possible. He was clearly annoyed, yet, when he spotted the impressive floral arrangement in Ron's right hand and the bottle in his left, he couldn't help but grin himself.

"Ron, those flowers; they're _incredible_!" exclaimed Kim, a look of wonder and amazement on her face. "Where on earth did you _get_ them?"

"Kim, let me in and I'll be happy to tell you the _whole_ story", said Ron.

Reaching over to her nightstand, Kim picked up the laser grid controller and pressed the deactivate button. Ron entered, walked over and stood beside her bed. Kim then pressed the reactivate button to bring the grid back up.

"That takes care of _my_ end of the deal", Kim said. "Now it's _your_ turn. Tell all."

"Well, before you kids get reacquainted, I think I'll head on home", interrupted Mr. Possible. "Thanks for coming down to relieve me, Ron."

"Oh, believe me Mr. Dr. P., it's my _pleasure_", said Ron with a grin.

"Of that I have _no_ doubt", responded Mr. Possible with a grin of his own.

"Kimmie, I'd hoped the doctor would show up before I left. He'll need a parental O.K. before you can be released. Just call home and your mom can give it to him", advised Mr. Possible. "If there are any papers to sign, she said she'd be willing to come down."

"It's been a very special morning with you, Kim, one that I'm going to remember for a long, long time. Wish it could have happened under different circumstances, but too often it takes a crisis like this to make these times happen."

"Thanks for staying with me, Dad. It _has_ been special. I love you, Dad", Kim said, turning to her father so she could give (and receive) a great big hug.

Mr. Possible bent over and embraced his daughter. "I love you too, Kim."

"Well, I'm off. You two have an enjoyable afternoon. Hopefully we can all have supper together tonight."

"Sounds great to me, Mr. Dr. P.", said Ron.

Kim deactivated the laser grid so her father could exit the room, then immediately reactivated it.

"By the way, Ron", Mr. Possible called from the room entrance, "if you don't want Rufus to spend the entire day with you two, he's welcome to come home with me. I'll wait outside for five minutes. If I don't see you by then, I'll head home. Okay?"

"Okay, Mr. Dr. P.", Ron replied. "Kim", he whispered, "how did he know Rufus was here?"

"Ron, don't you think after five years my dad would know what a naked mole rat smells like? All that cologne you're wearing isn't concealing Rufus' scent, you know."

"Yeah, I've figured that out. The lady at the floral shop smelled him. So did the woman at the hospital front desk. Only they couldn't tell _what_ they smelled."

"Well, you might as well come on out, good buddy."

Rufus immediately popped out of his hiding place, jumped onto the bed and scurried up the covers to give Kim a cheek "hug".

"Ouch! Watch it with those claws, Rufus!" said Kim. "I'm glad to see you, too."

"He's just thrilled to see you're okay, KP", explained Ron.

"Well, good buddy, I'm afraid your visit's going to have to be a short one."

Rufus gave Ron his naked mole rat version of the Puppy Dog Pout.

"Sorry, guy, but it's really for your own good. I'm sure Jim and Tim won't mind keeping you company and, unlike here, there should _lots_ of food."

Rufus perked up at the mention of food, gave Kim another cheek "hug" --- this time being careful _not_ to scratch her with his claws --- scampered back across the bed and hopped back into his pocket "home".

"KP, I'll run Rufus out to your dad, grab a couple of glasses from the cafeteria and be right back. Anything I get you while I'm running around?"

"Nope. As long as _you_ come right back, I'll have everything I _need_", Kim said with an inviting tone in her voice.


	18. Chapter 18

As with every chapter before and every to follow, all characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

James Possible decided that he had sat enough the past twelve hours and took a leisurely walk about the hospital grounds. A cobblestone path wove its way all around the main hospital building. Between the path and the building's outer way were planted a variety of well-tended flowers, shrubs and ground coverings. Following a very hot and dry summer, a recent period of much-welcomed rain and cooler-than-normal temperatures had restored the hospital's entire landscape to a lush green with splotches of seemly every color in the rainbow. 

Strolling up the section of cobblestone just outside of Kim's room, James stopped and stood for a moment, hoping to catch another glimpse of his daughter before heading back to his car. He could see her standing over by the mirror, obviously freshening herself up for Ron's return. James smiled. Even in her hospital garments, Kim was making every effort to look her best for her boy friend.

Then it dawned on him: if she was sprucing up, Ron must be headed out to the parking lot. James spun around and ran back up the cobblestone path. Coming around the corner of the building, he nearly collided with Ron coming out of the main hospital entrance. Fortunately, he was able to slow up and veer to the right at the last second. Ron, seeing him coming, planted himself and grabbed onto his likely future father-in-law to keep him from crashing to the concrete.

After catching their respective breaths, each thanked the other.

"Thanks, Ron. I very nearly took a major tumbling there."

"Glad to do it, Mr. Dr. P.! No reason for both of us to have one of these", Ron said as he pointed to the bandaged wound on his forehead.

"How's that feeling, by the way?" asked Mr. Possible.

"Oh, it doesn't let me forget it's there, but the ER nurse did a good job cleaning and bandaging it", Ron replied.

"That's good to hear, Ron, but I'd have someone take a look at it again and put a fresh bandage on before you come home, okay?"

"Yes, sir."

"So, is Rufus riding home with me?"

Rufus popped out of Ron's pants pocket, leapt to the ground and hopped over beside Mr. Possible.

"Well, I guess that answers that question. Okay, Rufus, let's go find the car and head home."

"Okay!" squeaked Rufus.

"Ron, he seems almost a little _too_ excited to be leaving. Is there something I should know?" queried Mr. Possible.

"Uh, well, Mr. Dr. P., I _did_ mention to him something about there being lots of food at your place, _that's_ all", Ron rather sheepishly answered.

"Uh-huh. Guess I'd better call ahead and make sure there will be. If not, I suspect Kim's mother will require that I stop off at the grocery store on my way. Anything _else_?"

"No, Mr. Dr. P., that's it." Ron bent down to say goodbye again to Rufus. "See you later, good buddy. Behave yourself. Hopefully Kim and I will be home later this afternoon."

Mr. Possible turned and walked toward where his car was parked, with Rufus hopping along beside him.

Ron remained at the entrance, watching as Mr. Possible opened the passenger side front door so Rufus could jump in, then went around to the driver's side, climbed in and started the car. Moments later the car slowly backed out and proceeded past a few other parked cars before exiting the lot.

Ron waved, then turned and walked back in the hospital entrance. He'll miss his little buddy, but it was worth it so he could spend a few more hours alone with Kim.

* * *

"_See_, Mom? I _told_ you we'd be shoo-ins to make the J-V team, _didn't_ I?" 

"Yes, Jim, you did, and I'm _very_ proud of _both_ of you", replied Kathleen Possible as she drove the family mini-van back home from the soccer tryouts. "It's a good thing the boys are fast", she thought to herself. "They're a head shorter than the rest of the squad and most of the other boys look like they spent the summer in the weight room. Better stock up on the ice packs."

Once the vehicle was within two or three houses of home, Kathleen reached up and pressed on the automatic garage door opener, then looked in the rear view mirror.

"Okay, boys. Remember. Cleats come off _in the garage_ and then straight to the shower. I'll find some clean clothes for each of you and set them on the floor just outside the bathroom. Last but not least, be sure to throw your soccer clothes in the washer, pull out the control knob and close the lid."

"Any questions?"

"No, Mom", replied the twins in unison.

"Good."

The minivan pulled into the driveway and up into the garage. Jim and Tim immediately jumped out and headed for the kitchen entrance.

"Boys? Cleats?" reminded Kathleen.

"Oops. Sorry, Mom."

The twins quickly untied their cleats, tossed them aside and then raced to the bathroom.

Kathleen sighed and shook her head.

"_Someday_ they'll learn. I just hope for the sake of their brides-to-be that it's _before_ they get married."

Pressing the button to close the garage door, Kathleen walked into the kitchen just as the phone rang.

"Good morning, Possible residence."

"And a good morning to you too, beautiful."

"Hmmm. I wonder who _this_ could be. The voice _sounds_ like Jim, but it _can't_ be _him_. _He_ hasn't called me "beautiful" since our _honeymoon_. Must be an _imposter_. So, just who _are_ you?"

"V-e-r-y _funny_, Kate. Oh, and I have _too_ called you beautiful since our honeymoon."

"_When_?"

"Let's see. There was that one time … No, didn't do it then. There was another time … Nope, didn't do it then, either."

"You _haven't_, have you? See, I _was_ right."

"Now, Kate, you can't expect me to recall events that may have happened ten or fifteen years ago after all that's happened the past twelve hours. Besides, I know for a fact that I've called you _lots_ of things that are the same as "beautiful"."

"For _instance_?"

"Well, "gorgeous", for one, along with "fantastic", "marvelous", "incredible", "breathtaking" and "a knock out", to name a few."

"W-e-l-l, I _guess_ I'll let you off the hook _this_ time, but _only_ if you promise to add "beautiful" to your list."

"Done."

"Good. So, how did the morning go?"

"It went _great_. Easily the best time I've had with Kimmie in years. Caught up on father-daughter talk and even managed to get a few hours of shut-eye."

"How's Kim doing?"

"That daughter of ours never ceases to amaze me. By the time I left it was hard to tell anything had happened to her last night. She even twisted my arm to promise that I'd give the thumbs up if the doctor asks if we thought she could come home today."

"That's good to hear, Jim, but I'd still like her to take it slow the next few days even if she comes home today. It's not uncommon for there to be a delayed effect on the brain following electrical shock days or even weeks after the incident."

"Maybe we should have Wade ask Global Justice to put Kim on temporary leave, Kate."

"Well, she might be more open to the idea coming from Wade than from us. Do you mind giving him a call? He may even be able to conference in Dr. Director."

"Sure, Kate, I can call him; just as soon as we're finished."

"Oh, I forgot to mention I have a very hungry naked mole rat as a passenger. Should I stop by the store on the way and pick up some stuff for Rufus?"

"No, I think we have enough snacks to keep even Rufus happy."

"Jim, what do you think the chances are that Kim will be released today?"

"I know I said earlier that Kim twisted my arm, but I honestly _do_ think she's recovered enough to go home. Of course, if she does, like you said, she really should take it easy for a few days. Why do you ask?"

"Well, with Jon Stoppable getting home today after being gone a week and Kim hopefully coming home, too, what would you think of making dinner into a sort of "Welcome Home!" celebration?"

"That's a _fantastic_ idea, Kate! What do you have in mind menu-wise? Is there anything I can pick up on the way?"

"No, just come straight home. I'd like to call Rachel and run the idea past her. We'll probably work up the menu together and then later on make a grocery run."

* * *

Back at Middleton General, Kim's face was buried in the floral arrangement, deeply inhaling the delicious mixture of fragrances. 

"Ahhh!" Kim exclaimed as she lifted up her head and exhaled. "What a w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l surprise, Ron! You _sure_ you don't want to take credit for these?"

"Like I said, Kim, they were a "Thank You!" gift from the lady at the floral shop."

"And the sparkling white grape juice?"

"That was her idea, too, although I _will_ take credit for tracking it down. The corner store down the street was out, so I had to do some quick thinking and find another place that carried it chilled."

"In _other_ words, you called Wade on the Ronnunicator, he tapped into the inventory databases of all the local stores and you were able to download a map showing where you could find it, _right_?"

"Yeah, but hey, at least I was smart enough to _call_ him."

Kim leaned over and gave Ron a quick peck on the cheek. "Way to _go_, champ."

While Kim went back to enjoying the floral arrangement, Ron made another attempt at opening the bottle. Amidst grunts and groans, the sound of a "Pop!" was heard as he finally managed to remove the stopper.

Pouring glasses of the bubbling juice for the two of them, Ron handed one glass to Kim and then called for a toast. Ron raised his glass, and Kim, with a smile, did likewise.

"In thanksgiving for Kim's recovery, for our families and friends, and especially for each other. May we never take our blessings for granted."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Ron."

Clinking together their glasses, Ron was lowering his to take a sip when Kim grabbed his arm.

"I know this going to sound silly, but could we do a "bride and groom" first sip?" Kim asked.

Ron grinned. "Sure. I'm game. Just remember your boyfriend isn't exactly God's gift to coordination."

Taking it slowly step by step, trying to maintain a steady hand while giggling, Kim and Ron intertwined their right arms and brought their glasses to their lips.

As they drank, Kim looked into Ron's brown eyes and smiled. He did the same, peering into Kim's green eyes and smiling. Their free hands instinctively reached forward and clasped together. They remained silently gazing into each other's eyes for several minutes, communicating through changes in facial expressions.

So focused were the two teens that, when the Kimmunicator beeped, it startled them as though they were awakened from a dream.

Kim snatched the Kimmunicator off her nightstand and pressed the Transmit button.

"What's the _sitch_, Wade?" she asked in an obviously annoyed tone of voice.

"Uh, did I just interrupt something?"

"Yes, Wade, as a matter of fact, you _did_."

"Oops. Sorry", apologized Wade, clearly meaning it. "You want me to call back later?"

Kim sighed. "No. That's okay, Wade. What's _up_?"

"I just thought you and Ron would like to hear the good news. We've been able to identify the original senders of that e-mail. It's just as we thought: some stupid high school prank that got out of hand and ended up being sent to those goons' e-mail address by accident. GJ working with local police have taken the kids into custody and confiscated the computer."

"And people call _me_ dopey", interjected Ron. "_Unbelievable_."

"So what's going to happen to those kids?" asked Kim.

"Legally they're minors, so they won't be treated the same as the goons who actually carried out the attack. A lot depends on the local laws and whether any of them have any prior offenses."

"Well, I know what _I'd_ like do to them", spoke Ron.

"You'll need to take a number, Ron", Wade chuckled. "From what I hear, there's _already_ a long line, including _several_ folks from _GJ_."

"Okay, you two, _cool_ it", admonished Kim. "That's Drakken and Shego talk, not Team Possible talk."

"Wade, any other sitches we need to know about?"

"Not at the moment, Kim. Maybe all of the super villains decided to take the weekend off."

"Ha! You wish! Besides, we still have half of Saturday and all day Sunday left."

Taking a sip from his ever-present soda cup, Wade appeared to be pondering what to say next or how to say it.

"You know, Kim, it might not be a bad idea to take a few days off from saving the world and let GJ handle things."

"Wade, I'm _feeling_ just _fine_", Kim bristled.

"Well, you're not going _anywhere_ until the Doctor says you can be released", reminded Ron.

"And that should happen any time now, _Ron_."

"Kim, you may _think_ you're fine when in fact you're _not_", Wade pointed out.

"And there's no way to know for _certain_ until I'm actually back in _action_, right?" Kim fired back.

"Actually, Kim, there _is_ another way we can get a good idea if you're mission-ready", answered Wade. "You could go through a battle simulation at GJ Headquarters."

"Who do you suggest I fight, Wade? Will Du?" asked Kim sarcastically.

"Dr. Director says _she's_ willing to be your opponent", replied Wade. "That is, if you're willing to take her on."

"Is Dr. Director behind all of this?" questioned Kim. "Well, since she's so concerned about my fitness for battle, _sure _I'll take her on."

"Great. I'll go ahead and set it up for tomorrow afternoon. GJ will pick you up about one o'clock. Ron, are you and Rufus planning to come?"

"You bet! We wouldn't miss this for the world. "Kim Possible vs. Dr. Director: A Battle Royale"."

"Ron, turn down the drama!" chided Kim. "This is going to be a _simulation_. We'll both be wearing protective gear."

"Um, actually, Kim, you _won't_", Wade corrected.

"You're _kidding_, right?"

"Nope."

"Does she understand what she's getting herself _into_, Wade?"

"I'm sure _she_ does, Kim. The question is, do _you_?"


	19. Chapter 19

As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

It had been a good thirty minutes since Kim had angrily ended the transmission with Wade and slammed the Kimmunicator down on the nightstand.

Not wanting to provoke her any more, Ron sat there, patiently waiting for her to calm down enough to ask the question.

"What tweaked _you_, KP?"

Kim silently sat there with her head in her hands, elbows on knees, staring down at the floor.

"Kim?"

Although there was no immediate verbal response, as Kim slowly raised her head, tears were beginning to roll down her cheeks. The tears became a torrent as she broke down, uncontrollably sobbing.

Sitting down beside her, Ron reached both arms around and lovingly pulled her toward him. Kim resisted and remained rigid at first, but finally gave in and allowed herself to relax within his embrace, her head resting on his shoulder.

For several minutes Kim continued to sob, her face partially buried in Ron's shirt. He would stroke her hair and whisper reassuring words to try and comfort her.

When the sobbing had at last subsided, Kim raised her head and Ron reached behind her, pulled out several tissues from the box on the nightstand and placed them in her hands.

After she had dried her tears, blown her nose and disposed of the tissues, Kim again rested her head on Ron's shoulder.

"Ron, I'm s-o-o sorry. Can you forgive me?"

"No big, KP. You've been through a lot, so it's understandable."

"No, Ron. It's v-e-r-y big. You literally risked your life for me _twice_ last night, and Wade saved _both_ our lives. So what do I do in return? I bite your heads off when all you're trying to do is watch out for me."

"Okay, Kim, I forgive you, although Wade's the one you should really apologize to."

"I know. I'll call him. Right now, though, I just want you to hold me."

* * *

"So, Rachel, what do you think?" 

"Kate, I think it's a _wonderful_ idea! It'll be easy to get Jon over there. He's planning to call before his flight leaves and I can just tell him to stop by your place on his way home to pick up something I accidentally left behind."

"The tricky part will be timing it so Kim and Ron don't get here early", Kathleen Possible pondered aloud.

Overhearing the conversation while sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper, James offered a suggestion. "Kate, we _could_ talk with the doctor at the hospital about _delaying_ Kim's release."

Kathleen responded with raised eyebrows, a smile and a thumbs-up.

"Rachel, Jim said we might try calling the doctor and having him wait to release Kim. With a little coordination, I think we can delay her and Ron just long enough so they get here about the same time as Jon."

"What do you have in mind as the main course, Kate?"

"If it's not a problem with you, I was thinking of having a backyard picnic: burgers and hot dogs on the grill, 'slaw, potato salad, some chips and drinks."

"That sounds fine to me. I can bring the dogs, potato salad and some drinks if you can supply the burgers, 'slaw and fixings. Give me a call, Kate, if there's anything else you want me to bring."

"Thanks, Rachel. Can't think of anything else right now, but I'll let you know. See you in a few hours."

As Kathleen hung up the phone, James piped up. "I suppose this means I've been drafted to be the grill master, _correct_?"

"Naturally! That is, unless you'd rather I give the job to the _twins_?" Kate responded with a wry grin. She knew that comment would seal the deal.

"No, Kate, I'll be _more_ than happy to do it. Speaking of Jim and Tim, where'd they get to?"

"Last I saw them, they were camped out in that enclosure in the living room playing video games. Rufus was in there, too, and from what I could tell, he was giving them some _serious_ competition."

James stifled a yawn. "Well, I think I'll check in on them and then go curl up on the couch for a nap."

Folding up the paper and tucking it under his arm, James downed the rest of his coffee and headed to the living room.

The twins were indeed inside the sound-proof enclosure, having a very animated video game contest with Rufus. Walking around to the enclosure door, James pounded on it to get their attention. Tim looked up, waved, and came over to open the door.

"Hi, Dad. What's up?"

"I was just checking in to see how things were going, Tim. It looks like Rufus is giving you boys all you can _handle_."

"Yeah, he's been _creaming_ us up to now, but we've decided team up against him. That's the _only_ way either one of us has a _chance_ to win."

"Well, I'm going to take a nap over on the couch. Your mom and Mrs. Stoppable are working on a little "Welcome Home!" dinner for Kim, Ron and Mr. Stoppable."

As James and Tim were talking, Jim wandered over from the t-v to listen in on the conversation.

James continued. "The only problem they're having is how to get Kim, Ron and Mr. Stoppable to show up here at the same time."

"That's _easy_, Dad", replied Jim.

"Yeah", agreed Tim. "All we'd need to do is…"

"…to somehow sabotage Ron's car…"

"…so he couldn't start it…"

"…then have Mr. Stoppable stop by the hospital…"

"…pick up Kim and Ron…"

"…and stop here to drop Kim off…"

"…on his way home."

"I don't _know_, boys. How would we be able to do that without someone seeing us?"

"Someone would probably see _you_, Dad…"

"…but they _won't_ see _us_…"

"…_especially_ if we wear…"

"…our _mission_ clothes."

James stood there, mulling over the practical not to mention the ethical ramifications of the plan. However, since they were up against a deadline and had no better ideas, this would have to do.

"Okay, boys. I'll go tell you mom what we'd like to do. As long as she and Mrs. Stoppable have no objections, we'll go with it."

"Cool!" replied the twins in unison.

Walking back into the kitchen, James broached the idea with Kathleen.

"I don't know, Jim. Is that the sort of "means to an end" lesson we want to teach the twins?"

"Kate, I know what you're saying, but all Jim and Tim will have to do is disable Ron's car just enough so it won't start. It's not like they will _destroy_ the thing."

"Jim, we're talking about the _twins_ here, _remember_?"

"_Good_ point, but do we have any _other_ way of getting them all here at the same time?"

Kathleen had to concede they did not.

"No, Jim, it's the only plan we have and we're running out of time. Let me call Rachel and see what she thinks. If she has no objections, we'll go with it."

* * *

It was not long before Kim, snuggled up in Ron's arms, fell fast asleep. 

Ron continued to hold her tight, not wanting to let go; not yet, anyway. Unfortunately, his right arm had other ideas and soon was itself asleep. Faced with this dilemma, Ron thought best to try and lay Kim down on the hospital bed.

First, he carefully lowered her head and shoulders down, which, because of the limited use of his right arm, required standing, twisting and nearly straddling Kim. Once this was accomplished, he slowly burrowed his right arm under her back while reaching underneath her knees with his left. Finally, he squatted and half-lifted her body while maneuvering it so Kim was positioned properly on the bed.

Next, Ron opened the room's closet door, pulled down a blanket from the top shelf, draped it over Kim and tucked it in all around. Last but not least, he grabbed her pillow, gently lifted her head, slid the pillow underneath, lowered her head and capped it all off by planting a loving kiss on her forehead.

Having taken care of Kim, Ron pulled the two room chairs together, one to sit on, the other to use as an ottoman. It was hardly the most comfortable setup, but by putting the first chair close to the wall in one corner of the room and using a pillow from the closet to rest his head against, it was tolerable. Compared to some of the sleeping arrangements he and Kim had had to endure on missions, it was downright luxurious.

Before closing his eyes, Ron thought it best to check in with Wade.

"Yo! Wade!"

"Hey, Ron, what's up?"

"Nothing much. Kim is sacked out in her bed for a nap, and I'm going to see if I can catch a little shuteye myself. Anything to report?"

"Nope. Still quiet. Too quiet, if you ask me. Something tells me there's a storm brewing, but I'm getting nothing from my sensors or sources, so I guess all we can do is to be on alert."

"Wade, could you check the laser grid system to make sure it's okay?"

"Sure, Ron, but I did a diagnostics about thirty minutes ago and everything tested fine."

"I just want to make absolutely certain, Wade. I'll sleep a whole lot better."

"Well, the diagnostics are running. It should only take a couple of minutes. Do you want to stay online or have me call you?"

"If you don't mind, I'll just stay online."

"So, did Kim finally cool down a bit?"

"Yeah. Now she's upset with herself for, as she aptly put it, biting our heads off when all we want to do is protect her."

"Do you think she'll still want to go through with the simulation with Dr. Director?"

"I don't know, Wade. You already have it scheduled, right?"

"Yeah, I called GJ just as soon as Kim disconnected. Think I should call them back and put it "on hold"?"

"No, let's leave it for now. Are the diagnostics done?"

"Done and the grid aced every test."

"Good. Thanks for running that for me. Be sure to beep me if anything comes up?"

"Will do, Ron."

After Wade ended transmission, Ron stared at the blank Ronnunicator screen. Wade sensing a "storm" was "brewing" was not good; not good at _all_. But, like Wade said, there wasn't anything they could do but be ready when it broke.

Setting the Ronnunicator on the floor beneath his chair, Ron leaned back, closed his eyes and silently said a little prayer that whatever was coming their way would wait until Kim was fully recovered. Within minutes, he was snoring away.

* * *

Rachel Stoppable was just starting to chop potatoes for the potato salad when the phone rang. She grabbed the handset off the wall mount and wedged it between her cheek and shoulder. 

"Hello, Stoppables."

"Hi, hon."

"Oh, hi, Jon", Rachel glanced at the microwave clock. "I didn't realize it was about time for your flight to leave. Any problems getting to the airport?"

"Thankfully, no. I lucked out and happened to flag down a taxi whose driver not only knew the fastest way to the terminal, but wasn't exactly shy moving in and out of traffic. She got me here fifteen minutes earlier than I had planned."

"_She_?" asked Rachel.

"Yeah, apparently at least here in central Florida the number of female taxi and shuttle drivers is increasing. Normally I wouldn't be crazy about the idea, but this woman obviously could take care of herself."

"How do you know that, Jon? You didn't give her any trouble, did you?" Rachel teased.

"No, Rachel, I behaved myself. It's just that after I handed her a tip, she offered to shake my hand. We shook and her hand clamped down on mine like a pair of Vice-Grips; she clearly wasn't putting any effort into it, either."

"Sounds like my kind of taxi driver!"

"Anything new to report?"

"Well, Kim is recovering so quickly that Jim and Kate think she'll be released sometime today."

"Now _that's_ good news. How about Ron?"

"He's fine. After a few hours of sleep, he went down to the hospital to keep Kim company so her dad could go home, cleanup and get some rest."

"Good. I'm sure Jim was glad to get the relief… oops, that's the boarding call for my flight. I'd better get moving."

"Jon, give me a call when you land, okay? I may have you pick up a couple of things on the way home."

"Will do. Love you."

"I love you too, Jon. Have a safe flight."

* * *

Not surprisingly, the Possible twins went all out in dressing for their "mission" to disable Ron's car. Along with the "off-the-rack" black top and green Army surplus pants, they were wearing grey gloves, black knitted caps and had blackened their faces commando-style. 

Beholding his two sons, James Possible could only shake his head and sigh. What had he gotten himself into?

Kathleen Possible observed her husband's body language, stepped up beside him and offered words of consolation.

"Jim, it could be a _whole lot worse_. They could be out running around with the _wrong people_, doing _drugs_, _drinking_ or getting in trouble with the police... okay, scratch that last one."

"You're right, Kate. It _could_ be worse. You know, now that I think about it, I wonder if there's anything _else_ we could have them do while they're dressed like this?"

"Maybe we should just stick with this one mission for now, Jim. Okay?" Kathleen said with a grin.

"O-k-a-y", replied James with a grin of his own. "Well, boys, I guess it's time to load up and head to our objective."

Jim and Tim opened the passenger side door and jumped in the back of their father's sedan, while James pressed the garage door opener button, went around to the driver's side, climbed in and started the ignition.

As soon as he had backed the car down the driveway and onto the street, James began grilling the twins, making certain they understood exactly what they were _supposed_ to do and what they _not_ supposed to do.

"Now, Jim and Tim, we're going to keep this v-e-r-y simple, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Jim, you go to the driver's side and deflate the rear tire. Tim, you go to the passenger side and deflate the front tire. Be sure to let the air out s-l-o-w-l-y, so no one will hopefully hear you, and remember to put the caps back on. Make sure the tires are visibly very low on air but don't complete deflate them, as that could ruin them."

"If anyone sees you, just act natural and explain that you're just pulling a little prank on your sister and her boyfriend. Got all that?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. I'll drop you off just in front of Ron's car. Quickly hop out and duck between the cars. I'll park at the end of the parking lot. Once you're done, press the button on that little signaling device. The light on the receiver here in the car will flash and I'll know to pull back around and pick you up."

"Any questions?"

"No, sir."

James pulled the sedan into the hospital parking and drove around until it was sitting perpendicular to Ron's car.

"Alright, boys, let's do it!"


	20. Chapter 20

As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

Kim awoke to find herself wrapped in a hospital blanket on her bed. The distinct and loud sound of Ron snoring could be heard to her left. Propping herself up, she looked over to see him in the corner of the room, stretched out over two chairs, his head wedged into a pillow, his feet dangling out over the edge of one chair. 

Lying back down, Kim smiled. She had witnessed such remarkable changes in Ron over the last several months. The whiny, more-often-than-not self-centered teenage boy was giving way to a thoughtful, self-sacrificing young man. A genuine "new Ron" had emerged. Not that she wanted to see _all_ of the "old Ron" disappear. She _loved_ his goofiness and didn't want to see that precious child-like innocence of his _completely_ disappear as long as the _buffoonery_ went away for _good_.

Kim reached over to the nightstand, picked up the Kimmunicator and pressed the transmit button.

"Hey, Kim. What's up?"

"Wade, I _really_ want to apologize for jumping on you earlier. You were only trying to protect me from myself. Can you forgive me?"

"Sure, Kim. I probably should have held off longer, anyway. Does this mean you'll take a few days off?"

"Yeah, I guess I'll do it, but on one condition: I want to be kept in the loop in case anything big comes up."

"Understood. What about your simulation tomorrow with Dr. Director?"

"Oh, I'm still going to take her on. Lately she's been treating Team Possible as though it's just another section of Global Justice. As far as I'm concerned, Team Possible works _with_ GJ, not _under_ GJ. I think a not-so-gentle _reminder_ is in order. Besides, she and I have fought side-by-side but never each other. It should be _interesting_."

"Okay, Kim, but like I said earlier, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."

* * *

James Possible sat nervously in his parked car, waiting for the twins to signal they were finished with Ron's car. He had thought about slumping down behind the steering wheel so folks driving or walking by would not see him, but decided that by doing so he would look even more suspicious. 

"What's taking them so long?" James muttered to himself. "Deflating a couple of tires should take a few minutes at most and it's been almost ten minutes."

As if in response to his question, the light on the receiver went red. James breathed a sigh of relief, started the car and drove out the parking lot entrance. Coming back in the other entrance, he swung the car around and once again stopped it in front of Ron's car.

Jim and Tim emerged from between the parked cars, quickly opened the driver's side passenger door and jumped in. Once they settled in and buckled their seat belts, the twins did a "High Five".

"Hick-a-bick-a-boo?"

"Hooshaa!"

Pulling the sedan back out onto the street, James looked in the rear view minor.

"Boys, that took more than _twice_ as long as it _should_ have taken. Is there something you need to _tell_ me?"

"Uhhh… well… Dad", Jim stammered.

Tim continued, "We got to thinking and realized that deflating two tires might not be enough…"

"… so we loosened the distributor cables from the spark plugs _just_ enough…"

"… that the car doesn't start, but the _real_ cause…"

"… won't be easy to spot."

Somewhat perplexed, James wasn't sure whether he should commend the twins for their ingenuity or scold them for disobeying his instructions. He chose to do a little of both.

"Boys, that was some cleaver thinking you did. H-o-w-e-v-e-r, I had given you _very clear instructions_ on what you were to do and not to do. I'm thankful your little "bonus" is easily fixable but I'm afraid there will have to be _consequences_ for your disobedience."

Jim and Tim swallowed hard, fearing the worst.

"For your punishment, first, we will go back to Ron's car and you will restore the distributor cables to their proper positions on the spark plugs. Second, starting tonight, you two will be in charge of doing dishes until a week from tomorrow. Last but not least, I believe an apology is in order."

"Sorry, Dad."

"Apology accepted. Now let's head back to the hospital."

* * *

Having a naked mole rat as a kitchen assistant was something altogether new for Kathleen Possible, but she had to admit Rufus was proving to be quite helpful. Her 'slaw recipe called for a few seasonings, and, having assisted Ron and Rachel Stoppable several times, he was able to locate and retrieve from the cabinet exactly what she needed. 

Once the 'slaw batch was finished and placed in the refrigerator, Kathleen dialed up Rachel.

"Hello, Stoppables."

"Hi, Rachel. How are things going?"

"I'm just about done with the potato salad. It's been awhile since I've had to make a triple batch. Hope I got all the ingredients measured right. How are things progressing over there?"

"Well, the 'slaw is ready and should be nice and cold by dinner time. Jim and the twins aren't back from their little mission yet. They had better get here soon. Otherwise the charcoal fire won't be ready in time for the burgers and hot dogs."

"Oh, I'm sure they'll be there shortly, Kate, and don't worry if we eat a little later. Jon is bringing home a little surprise that should keep our minds off of our stomachs until dinner's ready."

"A surprise, huh? Care to give me a hint or two?"

"Sorry, Kate, but I can't. Jon made me promise not to divulge anything about it, not even to you or Jim."

"Not even a teensy-weensy hint?"

"No, not even that."

Kathleen made a whimpering sound over the phone.

"Kate, that infamous Puppy Dog Pout of yours isn't going to get anything out of me, _either_."

"Rachel, you are _one_ _tough nut_ to crack."

"That's what makes me such a good banker, Kate", Rachel replied with a laugh. "Oh, tell Rufus I'll be by shortly to pick him up on my way out to the airport."

"The airport?" Kathleen said, puzzled. "I thought Jon's flight wasn't supposed to get in until around six o'clock."

"It's not, Kate. I'm going to move Jon's car so he has an even _tougher_ time finding it."

"Rachel, that is downright _cruel_. The poor man _already_ has enough trouble finding his car", Kathleen playfully chided.

"Oh, don't worry, Kate. I'm only going to move it a few spaces further down the row or maybe in a space across the way from where it's parked."

"Sounds fun. Only you'd better hope he hasn't memorized the parking spot number this time."

"He's never managed to do it before, Kate, so, in Jim's words, "That is a _mathematical_ _improbability_.""

* * *

Figuring that Ron had napped long enough --- and that she had listened to his snoring long enough, too --- Kim hopped out of bed and walked over to where Ron was propped up on the two chairs. 

"A goose bump wake-up call should do the trick", Kim thought. So, she reached down with her hand, carefully pushed up his pants leg to uncover some skin, and did a spider walk with her fingers up and down Ron's leg from the top of his sock to the cuff of his pants.

Ron clearly felt Kim's fingers crawling up and down, because he stirred and stopped snoring. However, as soon as she stopped, he slipped back into a deep slumber.

"Okay, if _that_ didn't work, let's try it up around his neck and ears", thought Kim. "_That_ should do it."

Moving close beside Ron in the corner of the room, Kim rested her hand on his shoulder and began to do the same spider walk, this time along the skin just above his shirt collar, looping up and around one ear, back across the collar and up and around the other ear.

This time, Ron appeared to be waking up. His eyes opened part way and he looked up at Kim. "Oh, please, don't stop", he said. "That feels g-o-o-d." Within moments, though, he was snoring once again.

Kim had had enough. "This calls for _extreme_ measures", she said to herself. Turning around, she went into a slight crouch, jumped up at an angle and landed dead-center in Ron's lap.

"Owww!" Ron yelped.

Before he could say anything else, Kim threw her arms around his neck and planted a big kiss on his lips.

Surprised at first, Ron knew a good thing when he saw it, wrapped his arms around Kim's waist and pulled her into his embrace.

The two teens remained that way for several minutes and probably would have stayed that way for several more had they not heard a voice break the silence. It came from the room's doorway. It was the voice of the ICU doctor.

"Umm, I _really_ hate to interrupt, but I think I have some news you'd both like to hear."

Rather embarrassed, Kim hastily slid off Ron's lap and stood up against the wall beside him. Ron jumped out of his seat and also stood against the wall beside Kim. Kim reached for the grid system control and pressed the "Off" button.

"No reason to feel embarrassed, Miss Possible", the doctor said as he observed the red color in her face. "Believe me, I've come upon some shall we say "unusual" situations when entering a hospital patient's room. What you two were doing was perfectly normal."

"Thank you, Doctor", said Kim as she reached over and entwined her fingers with Ron's. "You said you had some news for us."

"I do indeed. Based upon the results from the last set of tests, I think it's safe for you to go home. What you two were just doing confirms my diagnosis."

"Did you hear that, Ron? I can go home! Spankin'!" In her excitement, Kim practically leapt into Ron's arms as she planted an even bigger kiss on his lips.

After a moment or two, Ron tapped on Kim's shoulder and gestured with his eyes toward the doctor. Kim released her grip and once again stood beside Ron. Her face was now an even deeper red.

"Sorry, Doctor. I wasn't thinking and got a little carried away."

"No need to apologize, Miss Possible", replied the doctor. Looking straight at Ron, he continued. "This probably goes without saying, but you, sir, are a _very_ lucky young man."

"Thanks for the reminder, Doc, …", Ron said. "…although I'd rather think I'm _blessed_, not _lucky_." Ron's hand squeezed Kim's as he said this and then she in response squeezed his and laid her head on his shoulder.

"We will need one parent to come down and fill out some paperwork", said the doctor.

"My mom said she would come down right away once you said I could go home."

"Great! Well, once she completes the forms, you'll be free to go."

* * *

James Possible pulled the family sedan in the driveway and up into the garage. It took two attempts but they had successfully completed their mission. 

"Okay, boys, toss your clothes in the washer, close the lid and hit the showers. Oh, and make sure you scrub all that black stuff off your faces. We don't want to leave any evidence."

As usual, Jim and Tim raced each other through the entire process, from dashing to the washer through stripping off all their outer clothes and on into the house to the bathroom.

Not wanting to be spun like a top and/or run over, James waited on his side of the car until he heard the bathroom door slam, signaling that the coast was clear.

Strolling into the kitchen, James found Kathleen and Rufus busily preparing for the dinner celebration.

"It looks _great_ and smells _delicious_, Kate", James observed before giving his wife a peck on the cheek.

"Why _thank you_, Jim!" replied Kathleen. "You know, _flattery_ will get you _everywhere_."

James moved in behind Kathleen, wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned his head over her shoulder.

"Oh, is _that so_?"

"_Uh-huh_."

James began nuzzling Kathleen's neck.

"Don't mind if I _do_."

Kathleen placed her hand on top of James' head and pushed it away. "_Later_, gator."

"_Promise_?"

"_Promise_. Now go get that fire going so we can eat on time", Kathleen ordered with a smile.

"Aye-aye, Captain!" James answered with a mock salute and a smile of his own.

No sooner had James walked out of the kitchen than the phone rang.

"I'll get it!" Kathleen yelled down the hallway.

"Hello, Possible residence."

"Hi, Mom!"

"Kim! Does this mean that …?"

"Yep, I'm being released and can come home! Could you come down and fill out the forms?" asked Kim.

"Give me a couple of minutes to finish things up and I'll be right down", Kathleen answered.

"Oh, and Mom, could you bring down some clothes for me? All I have are the ones I wore last night and they need to go in the wash."

"Sure, Kim. I'll grab a set of your school clothes, along with some clean socks and your tennis shoes. Anything else you'd like me to bring?"

"No, that's it. See you soon!"

Kathleen hung up the phone and turned around to find her husband standing behind her.

"Sounds like Kimmie's excited to come home", James observed.

"Yes, but the doctor was almost an _hour early_ in breaking the news to her, Jim. This really puts a wrench in our plans."

"It could be that the one you were working with got called away for some reason and forgot to relay the info. In any case, you're right: we've got a little timing problem on our hands. Hmmm. What can we do?"

"Well, as much as I'd hate to, I _could_ delay heading down, but then I'd need a good excuse for being late. Only it would have to be something that Kim would _believe_."

"Oh, _that's_ e-a-s-y."

James and Kathleen looked at each other, mischievous grins spreading across their faces.

"The _twins_."


	21. Chapter 21

Well, I had good _intentions_ anyway. This was _supposed_ to be the final chapter before the Epilogue, but it's not. There will be a Chapter Twenty-Two, _then_ the Epilogue. Thanks for hanging in there.

As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

* * *

Other than some minor turbulence over central Alabama and northern Mississippi due to a line of storms passing through, so far Jonathan Stoppable's flight back to Middleton had been uneventful. The bumpy ride had woken him out of a deep sleep, but he figured after some iced tea he'd be able to pick up right where he left off. 

Sipping his glass of tea, Jonathan flipped through the Saturday edition of the Orlando newspaper. It was filled with the usual mix of news, most of it bad. Turning to the sports section, he scanned over the college football pages and came upon a rather unexpected article.

"Well, what do you know?" he said to himself. "Brick Flagg is getting his first start today." Middleton High School's former star quarterback had been wooed by a full-ride scholarship to come down to Florida and understudy at the University of Central Florida. He was slated to be red shirted his freshman year, but due to a fall practice season-ending injury to the senior starter, Brick began the year as the backup.

When the junior starting quarterback was injured late in UCF's opening game, Flagg was inserted to play out the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Due to the starter's slow recovery, Brick would be the starting quarterback for at least Saturday's game, with a wide receiver who had played quarterback in high school acting as his backup.

"Huh. I wonder how Brick's doing?" Jonathan said out loud as he glanced at his watch. "Guess I'll have to check the web when I get home."

Folding the newspaper back up, Jonathan stuffed it into the pocket of the seat in front of him. He drained the remainder of his iced tea, handed the glass to the stewardess as she walked by and placed his tray table in its upright and locked position. Finally, stifling a yawn, he wedged his pillow between his seat and the outer wall of the aircraft, pulled his blanket up over him, and curled up for the second half of his nap.

* * *

"Where could Mom _be_?" grumbled Kim. "I called her over half an hour ago." 

"R-e-l-a-x, KP", Ron said, attempting to reassure her. "I'm sure she'll get here as soon as she can. Maybe she was delayed by some sort of emergency at home."

"If that "emergency" had _anything_ to do with the Tweebs, those two are going to be _so_ busted."

"Well, KP, at least we won't have to wait for Wade to move the McHenry Laser Grid system. He already has a second prototype put together and should have it installed in your bedroom by the time you get home."

Kim leaned back in her bed. "You know, Ron, I'm wondering if maybe once Wade takes apart this system he should install it in _your_ bedroom."

"Nice idea, Kim, but I don't think my parents would be crazy about it. Besides, why would anyone come after _me_?"

"For one, you're part of Team Possible, Ron. More than that, you're my best friend and boy friend. Drakken, Shego, Killigan and Monkey Fist all know how much you mean to me. They wouldn't hesitate to do something to you if they couldn't get to me."

"I see what you mean, KP. I'll have to talk with Mom and Dad, but if they give the go-ahead, we'll have Wade install the system right away."

Looking at his watch, Ron observed that another five minutes had gone by.

"So, what _else_ can we talk about while we wait for your Mom?"

"Well, my dad brought up the "college issue" again this morning."

"_Oh_? What did you tell him?" Ron asked.

"Just that you were still planning to go straight into culinary school after graduation."

"You didn't happen to bring up the whole "going away to school" thing, did you?"

"Yeah, I mentioned it."

"_And_?"

"_And_ Dad naturally tried to convince me that it wasn't _necessary_ to go "away" to school, that there was a good culinary school not far from here, and that you and I have already been more places than the Pope."

"Was he upset?"

"Maybe a little. He seemed more _disappointed_ than anything."

"What about the housing "arrangement" while we're in college?"

"Ron, breaking the news to Dad that you and I plan to go away to school was hard _enough_. Telling him that we're seriously considering sharing a two-bedroom apartment is more than he _or_ I could handle this morning."

"Are you having second thoughts?"

"About going away to school? _No way_. About sharing an apartment? _Definitely_."

"Kim, we'd have our _own_ bedrooms."

"That's true, Ron, but that's not how our _parents_ are going to see it."

Ron shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see how it would be any different than each of us having apartments or even you living in a dorm and me having an apartment. One way or another, they'll have to _trust_ us, _right_?"

"You're right", Kim said with a sigh of resignation. "But will _they_ see it that way or will we be able to _convince_ them to see it that way?"

"Oh, we may not be as hard to convince as you _think_."

Kim and Ron jumped when they heard that voice. Slowly turning toward the room entrance with "I am _so_ dead" expressions on their faces, they saw Kathleen Possible standing there, arms crossed, grinning.

"Mom! Have you been listening the _whole_ _time_?" Kim exclaimed.

"Not the _whole_ time, Kim. Just long enough to hear about your housing arrangement plans for college."

Kim buried her head in her hands. "Great. J-u-s-t great. Mom, I really _was_ planning to talk with you and Dad about it. _Honest_."

"Don't _worry_, Kim. I _believe_ you."

Sitting up, Kim reached for the array control and pressed the button to deactivate it. Once her mother had entered the room, she pressed the button once more to activate the array.

"Well, Mrs. Dr. P.", Ron interjected. "Since you heard it all, what do _you_ think?"

"_I_ think you're _absolutely right_, Ron. We have to _trust_ you. We _do_ trust you. If we _didn't_, do you think we would have allowed you two to go gallivanting around the world _by yourselves_ the past five years?"

"So does that mean you'll trust us no matter _which_ housing we choose?" asked Kim.

"Kim, your father and I have tried to instill in you what we believe is _right_ and what is _wrong_, what is _true_ and what is _false_ and what we consider to be _wise_ and what is _foolish_. Ron's parents have done the same for him. What you decide to _do_ with those values is ultimately out of our control."

"Not _completely_, Mom. You and Dad are planning to pick up whatever college costs after any scholarships and financial aid, _right_, and Ron's parents have said they would cover his, too."

"Kim, you and Ron aren't _lab rats_. Your father and I aren't going to threaten to withhold money for college as a means of behavior modification, and I don't see Ron's parents doing that, either. Like I said, we've taught you as well as we can and need to continue to trust you. Now, if you two decided to quit school, elope to Vegas and gamble away every last penny, _then_ we might have to _do_ something", Kathleen Possible concluded with wry grin.

"No need to worry about _that_, Mrs. Dr. P. Graduating from culinary school is going be _enough_ of a challenge for _me_."

"Same here, Mom. I'd have better luck trying to fight Shego with one arm tied behind my back than beating the odds with a one-armed bandit on the Strip."

"_That's_ good to hear. Kim, here's a bag with some clothes, socks and shoes for you to wear. I also tossed in your shampoo, cream rinse, body wash and a few other things. I figured you'd want to get all cleaned up before going home."

"Thanks, Mom!" Kim said, hopping up and giving her mother a hug. "You always seem to think of _everything_!"

"Just part of being a mother, Kim. Someday I'm sure you'll be doing the same for _your_ children. Now, I'm going to go take care of that paperwork and head home. See you back at the house!"

As soon as Mrs. Possible had left the room and was out of earshot, Kim literally jumped into Ron's arms.

"Can you _believe_ that, Ron? And here I was worrying about if we could _convince_ them?"

"Uh, Kim, that was your _mom_, _remember_? Your _dad's_ likely to be a _harder_ sell. Oh, and there's the small issue of convincing _my_ parents, _too_."

"True, but I think your folks will be a lot more open to the idea when they find out my parents trust us. As for Dad, with Mom _already_ on our side, he doesn't stand a _chance_. Mom always finds ways to sway him, sooner or later."

"Oh, _yeah_? Just like you have to sway _me_?" Ron asked with raised eyebrows.

Snuggling deep into his arms, Kim looked up with her half-closed green eyes and purred, "O-h-h, y-e-a-h. A-n-d, kiddo, you ain't seen _nothing_ yet."

* * *

After leaving Kim's patient room, Kathleen Possible took a slight detour on her way to the hospital admissions desk. Ducking into a small waiting area, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed up the Stoppables. 

"Hello, Stoppables."

"Rachel, this is Kate."

"So, Kate, how'd it go?"

"Perfect!"

"So, you think you've delayed them long enough that you can get home before they discover Jim and Tim's little "mission" work?"

"More than enough, but I'd better get going. No sense in tempting Murphy's Law."

"That's for sure. I'll wait for Jon's call, and then come over. See you soon."

Kathleen hung up and immediately dialed her home number.

"Hello, Possible residence."

"Tim? This is Mom."

"Oh, hi, Mom. What's up?"

"How's the charcoal fire doing? Was your dad able to get it going without any "assistance"?"

"Yeah, he got it started…barely. Jim and I kept telling him to use more lighter fluid but he insisted on doing it "the old fashioned way". It took him nearly a whole book of matches to really get it going."

"Well, the _important_ thing is it's started, Jim. Tell your father I still have to fill out Kim's release forms and then I'll head home. Oh, and don't forget that if there are any calls other than from me or Mrs. Stoppable to let them go to the answering system. If it's an emergency call, go get your father so he can call back. Okay?"

"Okay, Mom."

"I should be home in about half an hour. See you soon."

Kathleen hung up her call, stuck the cell phone back in her purse and proceeded to the Admissions Desk to fill out the paperwork.

* * *

Had it not been for the stewardess waking him to buckle his seat belt, Jonathan Stoppable very likely would have slept until the airplane was on the ground and his fellow passengers were noisily disembarking. As it was, he was still a little groggy while pulling down his rolling suitcase from the overhead bin and exiting the plane. 

Slowly making his way up the ramp and into the terminal, several people brushed or even bumped him in their rush to get to wherever it was they were going. Jonathan saw no need to hurry. He had his luggage, he was reasonably certain of where his car was parked, and he knew his Rachel, Ron and Rufus would hold supper until he got home.

Exiting the terminal, Jonathan walked across the street, down the sidewalk and on into the airport parking garage.

"Okay, Rachel", Jonathan said to himself, "_this_ time I'm going to prove you wrong and find my car right away. I parked it on the Second Level, and I memorized the row letter and space number on the flight to Orlando: Row B, Space 15."

Jonathan punched the up arrow button between the two elevators and waited. In moments, there was a "Ding!" to his left and the doors opened. Once inside, he repositioned himself and pressed the "2" button. With a jolt, the elevator began its ascent.

Glancing around, Jonathan caught sight of the elevator's inspection notice. "Hmmm. This was inspected only a month ago. Well, whoever did the inspection wasn't very thorough."

Once the elevator reached the second floor and the doors opened, Jonathan made a beeline to where he was certain his car was parked. Reaching Row B, he confidently walked down the row of cars to Space 15. There appeared to be a full-size, dual-cab, long-bed pickup parked in Space 14, so he knew he wouldn't be able to see his car, a small four-door compact, until he got past the truck.

Rounding the other side of the pickup, Jonathan abruptly came to a halt, a look of dismay mixed with frustration washing over his face. The space was _empty_.

"No! This _can't_ be! I _know_ I parked my car here! I had the row and space _memorized_! _Someone has stolen my car_!"

All flustered, Jonathan dug his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed up his home number.

"Hello, Stoppables."

"Rachel! You are _not_ going to believe this. Someone has _stolen_ my car!"

At the other end of the line, Rachel nearly broke down laughing. Speaking as normally as possible under the circumstances, she tried to comfort her husband.

"Jon, let's try and _calm_ down. First, like I've said, you almost _always_ lose track of your car after a flight. Second, even if your car _did_ get stolen, getting all excited _isn't_ going to _help_. Now, are you _sure_ you have the right location?"

"_Yes_, Rachel! I am _absolutely_ certain! I _memorized_ it on the flight down: Row B, Space 15."

"You've been gone a week, Jon, and a lot's happened since you flew down, so it's possible you might not be remembering correctly. Let's try this: walk up and down the row and see if you can find the car."

"O-k-a-y, but I'm telling you, Rachel, I _know_ I parked it here!"

Although she could feel her conscience tugging at her a bit, Rachel knew this was necessary to make the "Welcome Home!" dinner a surprise. Besides, she hadn't pulled a stunt like this on her husband for _years_ and, frankly, she was _thoroughly_ _enjoying it_. Feeling a giggle fit coming on, she covered the phone's mouthpiece just in case. She could hear Jonathan muttering to himself as he walked back and forth along the row of vehicles.

"Rachel, it's _not here_!"

"Jon, _don't panic_. Try going up and down some of the other rows. The airport parking garage is pretty secure, so I honestly don't think the car was stolen. If I don't hear from you in about ten minutes, I'll call you back, okay?"

"Alright, but I'm telling you, I _know_ I parked the car in Row B, Space 15."

As soon as Jonathan hung up, Rachel was overcome by an enormous giggle fit. It took a few minutes before she could compose herself enough to call Kathleen Possible.

"Hello, Possible residence."

"Kate, just calling to let you know everything's going perfectly at this end, too."

"Jon's having trouble finding his car, huh?"

"Actually, he found the parking space _empty_ and thinks the car was _stolen_", Rachel said, breaking out into giggles once again.

"Rachel! _Shame_ on you!" Kathleen chastised her co-conspirator before also breaking out into giggles.

"Oh, don't worry, Kate. I'll confess I'm _enjoying_ this but I'll _more_ than make it up to him _later_."

* * *

Ron's patience was wearing a tad thin while waiting for Kim to shower and get dressed. Normally he could have occupied himself by playing a game on the Ronnunicator, but Wade had removed that module and replaced it with the taser module. Since it was the taser that saved Ron's life a second time the previous night, he wasn't about to complain. 

"Kim, how much longer are you going to _be_?"

"It'll be at least another five or ten minutes, Ron. You know I'm the "towel-off type" when it comes to drying my hair. Unfortunately, the one thing Mom _didn't_ bring was my hair towel. So, I'm trying to use the hospital towel, which isn't exactly absorbent."

"You want me to go get some more?" Ron asked.

"That's sweet, Ron. Actually, I _could_ use a two or three more, if you don't mind making a towel run."

"Okay. I'll get some and be right back."

Actually, while Kim _did_ need two or three more towels, what she _really_ wanted was for Ron to leave the room. As soon as she heard him reactive the array system, she turned on her shaver and did a quick once-over. If he had heard the shaver, he might get ideas that she didn't want him to get; at least not yet.

Kim finished up and switched off the shaver just in time. The sound of the array system being deactivated was heard only seconds later.

Ron knocked on the bathroom door. "Here you go, Kim. The nurse was a little puzzled why you needed more towels. I just told her your hair tends to get wetter than most people's."

Opening the door a few inches, Kim reached out and grabbed the towels from Ron's hand.

"Thanks, Ron. This should do it."

Another ten minutes passed before Kim finally emerged from the bathroom, but for Ron it turned out to be well worth the wait.

"You know, KP, I can't remember _school clothes_ ever looking so _good_ on you."

Kim literally skipped into his arms, wrapped her arms around his waist, gave him a quick kiss and then pulled back to look him in the eyes.

"Oh, and you _smell_ terrific, _too_. So _fresh_, and", as he ran his fingers through her flowing red hair, "so _clean_. Funny that I've never noticed all this before now."

"That's because you don't get to see, feel and smell me first thing in the morning right after I've taken a shower, _silly_", Kim explained with a smile, her green eyes gazing into his brown ones.

"Ahhh, but a year from now _that_ will no longer be the _case_", Ron retorted with a smile of his own.

"Only if you can convince your parents to approve our housing arrangement. Otherwise…", she continued, pressing her index finger on his nose and pulling out of his embrace, "…I'm afraid you're going to have to wait until either I'm hospitalized again or our honeymoon, _whichever comes first_."

"Well, if _that's_ not enough incentive, I don't know what _would_ be", Ron said with a grin.


	22. Chapter 22

As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

After yet another quick once-over in the bathroom mirror, Kim was finally ready to leave for home. Per Wade's instructions, Ron deactivated the grid system, removed the power cell from the remote control, and unplugged and detached the power converter/battery backup/main control unit from the wall jack.

"Man, this control unit is h-e-a-v-y!" Ron groaned. "No _wonder_ Wade hauled it in using his two-wheeler."

"You _sure_ you want to try and carry that yourself?" Kim asked.

"Now that you ask, no, I'm _not_ sure. Let me go find a hospital cart. I remember from our work here with the Sunshine Spreaders that there were some good sturdy carts in the back of the kitchen area."

Ron ventured on down the hallway while Kim waited for him in ICU. She kept herself busy doing light stretching and some figure-eight walks from one end of the unit to the other.

A few minutes later the unmistakable sound of an empty metal cart could be heard approaching. Ron backed it in through the ICU swinging doors to try and lessen the noise.

Lifting with his legs and not his back --- a lesson hammered into him by his father, whose own back had "gone out" several times over the years due to improper lifting techniques --- with a few grunts and groans Ron managed to raise the control unit up and gingerly set it down on top of the cart.

"There! Now, let's get _out_ of here!"

With Kim walking alongside, Ron pushed the cart out of ICU and down the hallway to the main hospital entrance. Exiting the automatic double doors, Ron rolled the cart over to the side and braced it so it wouldn't roll away.

"I'll go get the car and pull it around, KP."

Briskly walking over to where his car was parked, Ron was nearing the vehicle when he noticed something rather peculiar about its appearance. He thought he was just imagining it, but the front of the car appeared to be lower on one side than on the other. Walking around to the passenger side, he looked down and immediately saw the culprit: the front tire was flat.

"Now how did _that_ happen?" Ron asked himself, scratching his head. "The tires are only a _few weeks old_ and I've hardly put any miles on them."

Strolling around the vehicle, Ron inspected the remaining three tires and found the rear one on the driver's side also flat.

"_No way_! _Two_ flat tires?" Ron stood up, turned and yelled to Kim, gesturing to her to come. "Kim! Come over here!"

Hearing Ron yell and gesture, Kim ran over to see what was wrong.

"What's the matter, Ron?"

Ron pointed to the flat tire. "This!"

"A flat? Ron, that's not exactly a _crisis_, _is_ it?"

"_Normally_ it's not, but check _this_ out."

They walked around the front of the car, and Ron once again pointed down.

"Ohhh. This _is_ bad", Kim observed.

"Yeah, it's _bad_, alright. It's also something of a mystery. This set of tires is only a few weeks old and they are top-of-the-line. What are the odds of two going flat at the same time?"

"Wade would probably have the answer, if you really want to know, Ron."

"No, that won't be necessary. We do have a problem, though: two flats and only one spare. Any ideas?"

"Not about how to fix the flats, but if Mom's not already home, maybe she can swing back by and pick us up."

Kim ran back to the hospital entrance, in the automatic doors and straight to the Admissions Desk.

"Uh, excuse me, but would there be a phone I could use to make a local call?"

The woman behind the desk looked up and motioned with her head to a phone sitting on the counter. "You can use that phone, but keep the call to less than five minutes."

"Yes, ma'am."

Quickly dialing her home number, Kim heard two rings before someone answered.

"Hello, Possible residence."

"Jim?"

"Nope, but that's a good guess, Kim."

"Alright, _Tim_. Is Mom home yet?"

"Yeah, she got here just a few minutes ago. Why?"

"I need to talk to her. Now go get her for me."

Tim dropped the phone on the kitchen counter, causing Kim to cringe from the loud "Thunk!" in her earpiece. "Tim!!!"

Meanwhile, Tim found his mother out on the backyard patio.

"Mom, Kim's on the phone. From the sound, I'm guessing she and Ron just discovered the flat tires."

"You didn't say anything to her about that, _did you_?" asked Mrs. Possible.

"Nope. _Not a word_."

"Good!"

Taking her time, Kathleen walked inside and slowly picked up the phone.

"Kim! I thought you and Ron would be _home_ by now."

"We probably _would_ be, Mom, but we've run into a slight problem. Ron's car has two flats."

"Two flats? _That's_ not good."

"No, it's _not_. Any chance you or Dad could come down and pick us up? I guess we'll have to deal with the car later."

"We could, but I'm wondering if maybe Ron's dad might be able to pick you up on his way home from the airport. He's supposed to be landing about now. Let me call Mrs. Stoppable and see if that might work. One of us will call you back in a couple of minutes to let you know what we've worked out. What's the number we can reach you at?"

"I'm calling from the phone by the Admissions Desk", Kim answered. "The number is 555-9904. I'll stay here until you call."

Hanging up the phone, Kathleen immediately called Rachel Stoppable.

"Hello, Stoppables."

"Rachel, this is Kate. Kim just called."

"Right on schedule", Rachel commented. Her handset beeped and Jon's cell phone I.D. came up on the LCD display. "And perfect timing, too. That's Jon calling. Go ahead and call Kim back. I'll take things from here."

"Will do."

Kathleen hung up and dialed the hospital number Kim had given her.

"Middleton General Hospital. How may I help you?"

"Yes, this is Kathleen Possible. My daughter, Kim, just called me from this phone a couple of minutes ago and said she would wait there for me to call back."

"One moment, please."

The sound of the phone be jostled around was heard.

"Hi, Mom. What's the word?"

"Ron's dad will be by to pick you two up. It might take twenty or thirty minutes for him to get there though."

"That's okay. The weather's nice, so we'll probably stay outside and watch for his car."

"Good idea. Enjoy it while you can. The forecast is for some more rain by early next week. See you soon."

"Okay. Love you, Mom."

Rachel Stoppable flashed her phone over to Jonathan's incoming call.

"So, how's the car hunt going?"

"It took awhile, but I finally found it. It was across the way from where I thought I'd parked it, way down at the far end of the row. How it got there I don't know."

"_See_, Jon? You got all excited for _nothing_."

"I suppose so, Rachel, but I was _sure_ I'd parked it in Row B, Space 15."

"Well, at least it wasn't _stolen_, right?"

"Yeah, you're right."

"Now that the car's been found, I've got a little side trip for you to make on your way home. Kim called her mom a few minutes ago and said Ron's car has a couple of flats, so they need a ride."

"Ron's car has _two flats_? What on earth has he been _doing_ with that car this week? Those tires are practically _new_ and cost a small _fortune_. Good thing I bought the road hazard warranty when I bought the tires."

"Can you hold off on taking care of the tires until tomorrow?" Rachel requested. "I've got a really nice dinner cooking and was looking forward to eating together again as a family."

"Sunday's not exactly a good day for getting a flat fixed. We'll come home for dinner, and then Ron and I can meet the serviceman at the car afterward."

"That will work for me. Oh, and Jon, when you drop Kim off over at her house, I need you to get something for me that I left there last night."

Hanging up the phone, Rachel picked up her list from the counter of things to take over to the Possibles, walked out into the garage and checked it against what she had already loaded into the car.

"Looks like everything's here. Now, all that's left is to find Rufus and we should be all set."

Reentering the house, Rachel made her way downstairs to the family room where, sure enough, she found Rufus sprawled out on the sofa, snoring away. She had learned long ago from Ron that there's no easy way to wake up a naked mole rat, so she did what she always did to wake up Ron: she tickled Rufus's "feet".

At first Rufus didn't react, but thanks to Rachel's persistence, he at last began to respond, first with flinches, then with snorts, then with giggles and finally with laughter.

"Okay, Rufus. Time to go back over to the Possibles. If you have any business to take care of, do it now."

Rufus didn't have to be told twice. He scampered into the basement bathroom, closed the door and a minute or so later the sound of the toilet being flushed was heard, followed by the running of water in the sink. The door opened once again, and Rufus came bounding out and straight up the stairs to the main floor, with Rachel close behind.

The Possible's charcoal fire was almost ready. Now all James Possible needed were the burgers and dogs. Kathleen had the burgers all prepared but wanted to wait until Rachel Stoppable arrived with the dogs.

While they waited for Rachel, James and Kathleen stretched out on the two deck lounges, shades on, basking in the early September sun, and, thanks to Jim and Tim retreating inside to their video games, enjoyed some time to themselves.

"Ahhh… a little peace and quiet", exclaimed James with a sigh of relief.

"Mmmmm…. ", was all Kathleen could say in reply.

"Imagine, Kate: once the twins are off to college, we'll be able to do this _any time we want_."

"It _is_ rather nice to ponder sometimes, Jim, but I'm not in a hurry for it to happen. I've heard enough about "empty nest syndrome" to know that I need to _cherish_ this time while they're still at home. The same goes for _Kim_."

"You're right _as usual_, Kate. Kim's only going to be at home for maybe another ten or eleven months. That _sounds_ like a long time but it's going to be gone before we know it."

James and Kathleen let out sighs in unison, reached across the gap between lounges and held hands.

A few minutes later, the front doorbell shook them out of their bliss.

"That's probably Rachel. I'll get it."

Jumping up, Kathleen quickly walked inside, down the hall and to the front door. Opening the door, there stood Rachel, loaded down with food for the dinner.

"Here, let me help you with those", offered Kathleen.

"Thanks. There are a few more things in the car. Where do you think I should park so Jon and the kids don't see it?"

"There's a cul-de-sac down the street. Why don't we park it there? Let's get all your things unloaded so Jim can get the dogs cooking, and then I'll ride down and walk back with you."

After a week of hotel living, taxis and shuttle rides, Jonathan was finding renewed pleasure in simply driving his own car, playing his own music and deciding whether the windows should be up or down. The drive from the airport to the hospital also served as a reminder of how much he preferred Middleton over the hustle and bustle of city life.

Making the last turn before reaching the hospital, Jonathan looked ahead and thought he could see Ron and Kim by the entrance, engaged in what appeared to be hand-to-hand combat. As he drove closer, it was clear they were sparring, not actually fighting.

Pulling up to the curve, Jonathan rolled down the passenger-side window. "You two had me worried for a minute. I honestly thought you were fighting."

"Don't worry, Mr. Stoppable", Kim reassured him. "If Ron and I actually _had been_ fighting, he'd be begging for mercy by now." She shot a rather wicked little grin Ron's way.

"Is that _so_?" Ron shot back. Catching Kim off guard, he tackled her at the waist and threw her over his shoulder.

"Dad, do you think there might be enough room in your trunk for a wise-cracking redhead?"

"Oh, I think we can make room, Ron. Give me a second to open it up and check."

The trunk lid popped open and Ron walked around to the back of the car.

"Ron! Put me d-o-w-n!" yelled Kim, kicking and pounding on his back. "Don't you _dare_!"

"I'd be "begging for mercy", huh?" Ron said, echoing Kim's boast. In spite of all of her squirming and struggling, he showed no signs of letting go.

"Okay, okay!" Kim pleaded. "I take it back! I take it b-a-c-k!"

Ron set her back down on her feet and grinned. Annoyed as she was, Kim couldn't help but grin as well.

"Well!" exclaimed Mr. Stoppable with a smile. "It looks like all that training and working out over the summer has made a difference, Ron."

"_I'll_ say!" agreed Kim as she reached over, grabbed Ron's hand and squeezed it.

"So, are you two kids ready to go home?"

"Yes!" replied Ron and Kim in unison.

"I still need to load the grid control unit in the trunk, Dad, but after that we'll be ready", Ron added. Walking over to the hospital cart, he wheeled it across the sidewalk, down the wheelchair access section of the curb and over to the back of the car. A few more grunts and groans later, the control unit was sitting securely in the trunk.

"I'll run the cart back in to the kitchen and be right back."

"Okay, son. Meanwhile, I'm going to go check out those flat tires of yours."

Mr. Stoppable walked over to the car, did a quick inspection, and then walked back, a puzzled look on his face.

"Huh. I can't see any reason why those would both have gone flat and at the same time of all things. I'll call and have someone come out later to fix them."

Ron soon returned from delivering the hospital cart.

"Ron, any ideas why those tires would have gone flat? I can't see anything wrong with them."

"Sorry, Dad, but I'm clueless, too. All I've done this week is drive back and forth to school and around town. The only thing I can think of is someone let the air out, but who would want to do that to _my_ car?" Saying this, Ron looked over to Kim, who was obviously lost in thought.

"Kim? KP?"

"I don't know why I didn't think of this _before_ now. The "_who_" is _easy_, Ron: this has "the Tweebs" written _all over it_. It's the "why" and the "how" that _I_ can't figure out."

"Well, while we ponder this little mystery, how about climbing in and heading home?" urged Mr. Stoppable. "I don't know about you two, but I'm getting rather hungry."

With that, all three piled into the car and headed down the road to the Possibles.

"Is everything ready?" Kathleen Possible anxiously asked no one in particular for the umpteenth time.

"Y-e-s!" was the unison reply from James, Jim, Tim and Rachel Stoppable with Rufus chiming in.

"You're _sure_?" Kathleen asked once again.

"Y-e-s!" came back the unison reply.

"Good! Now, Jim and Tim, you keep watch, one on each side of the house. Stay out of sight until you're certain they're coming up the walk to the front door, and then come running back here. Jim, you, Rachel and Rufus will stay back here. I'll stay out in the kitchen and answer the door when they come in. Everyone understand their assignments?"

"Y-e-s!"

"So, Sherlock, are we any closer to solving our little mystery?" asked Jonathan Stoppable.

"No, Mr. Stoppable, I'm afraid we're not", replied Kim.

"Then I guess it'll just have to remain a mystery for now, because here we are", Mr. Stoppable concluded as he steered the car into and up the Possible driveway.

Ron and Kim piled out of the back while Mr. Stoppable climbed out the front driver's side.

"Ron, your Mom said something about me needing to pick up something here. I'll walk up with you two, if you don't mind."

As they approached the front door, it opened and out stepped Kathleen Possible.

"Well, look who's here?" she said with a smile. "Come on in!"

"Thanks, Kate", Jonathan said as he entered the house, "but Rachel has a special dinner planned, so Ron and I can't stay long. I just need to pick up something she left behind and head for home."

"That's fine, Jon", Kathleen replied. "We won't keep you. I think she left it out on the back patio. Ron, you might want to come along and help your dad with it."

Ron and Kim looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and followed Jonathan and Kathleen back to the patio.

Walking down the hallway toward the back of the house, Ron soon detected a delectable aroma wafting in from the patio. "Something sure smells g-o-o-d!" he remarked.

Kathleen went out the patio doors first and quickly moved over to the right. Jonathan followed with Kim and Ron after him.

"SURPRISE!"

Jonathan, Kim and Ron all jumped from the unexpected greeting, made even louder thanks to some amplification rigged up by the twins at the last minute.

"WELCOME HOME!"

With a "What on _earth_?" expression upon his face, Jonathan looked over to his wife for some sort of explanation.

"Jon, this was Kate's idea. She thought we should have some sort of special dinner celebrating Kim's fast recovery and figured that, since you'd been gone a week, we could call it a "Welcome Home!" dinner celebration."

"But Rachel, it's not like I've never been away to a week-long conference before."

"No, but it's the first time our son and likely-to-be daughter-in-law have come this close to death while you were gone."

"Good point."

"Besides, I _missed_ you, more than I can remember missing you since the first years of our marriage." Rachel punctuated her remark by throwing her arms around Jonathan's neck and giving him a big kiss.

Overhearing Mrs. Stoppable's explanation, Kim walked over and gave her mother a big hug.

"Thanks, Mom. I'm thankful _to_ be home."

"We're thankful you're home, _too_, Kimmie", answered James Possible as he joined in the hug and gave his wife a loving kiss.

Feeling rather left out, Ron grabbed hold of Kim's right hand and pulled her to him.

"Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Dr. P., but I believe Kim and I are overdue for one of our own", he said as he embraced Kim in his arms and kissed her.

Looking around at the three couples kissing, Jim and Tim grimaced.

"Y-u-c-k!"

"G-r-o-s-s!"

"Times three!"

Breaking her kiss with Ron for a moment, Kim glanced over at her twin brothers and predicted, "Your time is coming, you two, and _I can't wait_."

Once everyone was finishing or had finished eating, Jonathan Stoppable stood up and tried to get their attention.

"I must say this had been a _wonderful_ surprise. If I knew I'd get this kind of treatment every time I went away to a conference, I'd go more often!"

The joke elicited some laughter along with a few boos and hisses from the wives' section.

"And now you know why I never made it as a stand-up comedian. Even my own family and friends don't appreciate my jokes."

This time the response was _all_ laughter.

"Well, since _you_ surprised _me_, _I_ have a surprise for _you_, or at least nearly all of you."

"Ron, while I was down in Orlando, I bumped into an old college buddy of mine from my NYU days, Bob Zimmerman. We had a great time catching up. He told me about his family and I told him about mine. Not surprisingly, he's familiar with you and Kim and your Team Possible exploits."

"Well, he happens to have a daughter, Mary, who is your age. Now, Kim, remember, I'm only the messenger here: Bob says Mary had a crush on you, Ron, for years. Bob also happened to mention that Mary is a very attractive blonde (takes after her mother), smart and athletic."

Kim looked over at Ron, who from his expression was _obviously_ impressed that yet _another_ beautiful girl "liked liked" him. That expression earned him a sharp elbow in the ribs.

"Kim, the elbow was probably _deserved_, but I wouldn't worry too much. Bob says he's sure Mary has outgrown her crush. Besides, I personally don't see how she'd be any competition for you", Jonathan said with a smile.

"Thanks, Mr. Stoppable. You may have spared your son from _considerable further bodily harm_", Kim responded with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks, Dad", Ron agreed with a weak smile as he rubbed his side.

"Anyway, to get to my _real_ surprise, Ron, you and Rufus will soon be joined by a fifth member of the family. Mary _also_ has a naked mole rat, Raquel, who needs a home for at least the next couple of years while Mary is living in dorms at college. After talking it over with your mother, Ron, we've decided to let Raquel stay with us."

Rufus, who had been sitting in Ron's lap, went crazy, jumping up and down, running around and around the patio while occasionally stopping long enough to do a high-five "Boo-yah!" with Ron.

Turning to Ron, Kim was surprised to see he too wasn't going crazy. While he smiled and seemed happy, his brown eyes betrayed a tinge of sadness. Whatever it was that troubled him, she wasn't going to press him on it right now. She slid her arm around his waist, pulled his arm around her and nestled her head on his shoulder.


	23. Epilogue

As with every chapter before, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

The surprise "Welcome Home!" party having wound down, the twins and Rufus went back in the enclosure for a video game rematch, James Possible and Jonathan Stoppable drove down to the hospital to air up the tires on Ron's car, and Kathleen Possible and Rachel Stoppable set out for an exercise a walk around the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, Kim and Ron retreated to the privacy of Kim's bedroom.

Ron lay down across the bed while Kim sat cross-legged beside him, tousling his hair.

"So, Rufus is going to have a _girlfriend_. How do _you_ feel about that, Ron?"

"I think it's _great_! He'll finally have someone of his own kind around here. It'll be _perfect_. While Mom and Dad are at work and I'm at school, he and Raquel can hang out together around the house. I'm sure Rufus will help her feel right at home."

Kim recalled how sad Ron's eyes had appeared earlier when he was first told about Raquel, and even now his voice seemed to be straining to sound happy.

"That's _not_ what I was _asking_, Ron. How do _you_ feel about it?"

The question was met by complete silence.

Ron's hesitation in answering signaled to Kim that she was right: there _was_ something troubling him.

"Ron, if you'd rather not answer right now, that's okay."

"Kim, I don't _know_ how I feel. Part of me feels happy, because having Raquel come to live with us makes it a whole lot easier to leave Rufus home when you and I go out together. Another part of me is sad, though. Rufus and I have been so close for so long, and that's going to change, probably forever, once Raquel is here."

"Yeah, change _is_ hard, isn't it?" Kim agreed, not knowing what else to say in response.

Seeking to change the subject slightly, she asked, "So, what do you plan to name their first offspring?"

"_Offspring_? You mean, like in _babies_? Oh, man! I hadn't even _thought_ about _that_!"

"Well, _now_ might be a good time to think about it. That is, unless you plan on getting them "fixed". You still have all that stuff from when you researched hairless pets?"

"That was five years ago, KP. Even if I _do_ have it somewhere, I wouldn't have a clue where to _look_. Guess I'll just have to hop back on the web and see what I can find."

Kim wasn't sure whether she should bring up a related topic. It might kill the mood and maybe even spoil her little surprise. After some internal debate, she decided to forge ahead.

"While we're on the subject of Raquel, what do you think of this Mary Zimmerman?"

"I have to admit, based on how Dad described her, she sounds like she can do _anything_."

"Uh, Ron, that's _my_ line", Kim reminded him rather icily.

"Ooops. Sorry, KP. She sounds like she can do _almost_ anything."

"_Better_. You dad _also_ mentioned that for a long time she had a crush on you. I can't imagine _why_, but stranger things _have_ happened."

"_Touché_. Guess that makes us even. Anyway, her dad told my dad he thinks she's outgrown it."

"And if she _hasn't_?"

Sensing the genuine concern in Kim's voice, Ron sat up, turned and faced her.

"Kim, I know I've done and said some incredibly stupid things in the past, things that hurt you. Like you said, I was clueless about girls, and that's why you've been willing to "forgive and forget". Hopefully I'm a little less clueless than I used to be…"

"A little, but there's still plenty of room for improvement", Kim interjected with a grin.

"…and less likely to make the same dumb mistakes. One thing I am certain of is this..." Reaching over with both hands, Ron raised Kim's face so he could look her straight in the eye. "Kim, you're the _best_. Nobody else even comes _close_."

"Not even _Yori_?"

"Not even Yori. She and I will always share a special bond, a bond of honor, but it's a bond of _friendship_."

"So there's no way this beautiful blonde Mary Zimmerman might bump me down to second place?"

"No chance _what-so-ever_, Kim."

"Well, _that's_ definitely good to hear, Ron, and I _believe_ you. However, there _are_ a couple of things I feel I need to share with you."

Now it was _Ron's_ turn to feel a tad apprehensive.

"Uh, o-k-a-y… I'm listening."

Gathering all her thoughts and feelings together, Kim pressed ahead and opened her heart.

"I know it seems like ages ago, but do you remember yesterday, before you dropped me off at home after school, how I talked about us moving beyond being "best friends" to being a couple?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Well, for me at least, I feel I'm moving even beyond seeing you as just my boyfriend to being something much, much more."

"KP, you're not about to _propose_ to me, are you?"

"Huh? Oh! No, of _course_ not, silly!" Kim exclaimed, socking Ron in the left shoulder.

"Oww! That's good, because even _I_ know it's way too soon for us to get married. Oh, and, unless you have any objections, _I'd_ like to be the one doing the proposing when the time comes, okay?"

"No objections. Now, where _was_ I? Oh, yeah. Ron, I'm starting to see you as something greater than just a boyfriend. You're my "other half", my "soul mate"."

"You mean like in that Animology stuff?"

"Maybe in a way, but that test was supposed to help you find your "perfect mate". I learned the hard way last spring that the only _perfect_ match is created in a _laboratory_. No, Ron, I'm not _expecting_ you to be perfect, and I hope you don't expect _me_ to be perfect."

"No, Kim, I'm _not_ expecting you to be perfect, although _sometimes_ you're pretty darn _close_."

In response to Ron's compliment, Kim sprang at him, wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a big moist kiss on his lips. After a minute or so, she released her arms, leaned back and looked at Ron with a dreamy smile on her face.

"That's _exactly_ what I mean, Ron. You build me up; make me stronger than I would be by myself. When I'm with you, I feel like a whole person, and when we're apart it's almost like a piece of me is missing. I guess it's _always_ been that way but somehow it goes a lot deeper now. Now I'm comfortable sharing _everything_ with you, even things I used to only talk about with Mom."

"You understand what I'm trying to say, Ron?"

"Yeah, I _think_ I do, Kim. A _little_, anyway."

"Good. Now, about the other thing I wanted to share, first, I need you to remove your shirt, lie face down on the bed and close your eyes."

Once Ron did this, Kim said she'd be right back. "I need to get some massage lotion. Don't open your eyes, okay?"

"Okay, KP."

Lying down on the bed, Ron anticipated a wonderful (and much-needed) rubdown. He was surprised when Kim hopped up on the bed without him ever hearing her footsteps, but dismissed it. She climbed on top of him, straddling his midsection.

As Kim began to massage Ron's arms and upper shoulders, she described in detail all the enjoyable and even pleasurable things she plans to do with him and for him in the future. Thanks to his power of imagination, Ron had no problem visualizing all this in his mind.

It suddenly occurred to Ron that Kim's legs were uncovered as high if not higher than when she wore her cheerleading outfit, only he couldn't think of any reason why she would be wearing it now.

Kim shifted her position further down Ron's back to massage his shoulder blades and sat down on Ron's lower back.

Almost immediately Ron was startled to feel two completely unexpected but unmistakable sensations in the center of his back.

"Kim, you're not wea- …."

Kim cut him off.

"Shush! Remember what I said Friday night in the car after you massaged my feet?"

"Uh-huh."

"W-e-l-l, just _relax_ and _enjoy_ it, okay?"

"Okay…"

Once she finished with the massage, Kim slid off Ron's back.

"Now, you can turn over onto your back, but _keep your eyes_ _shut_."

A few moments later, Ron heard what sounded like the blinds being drawn, then a match being struck. Even with his eyes closed, he could sense a change in the light in the room, and he thought he smelled some new scent in the air but he wasn't able to recognize it.

Next thing Ron knew, Kim was climbing back on top of him, straddling him a little above the waist.

"You can open your eyes now."

Ron did so, gazed up at Kim and could scarcely believe what he saw. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, while his jawed dropped even further than it had when he first beheld Kim in her little black dress while she was under the control of the Moodulator.

Kim smiled, reached down and pushed Ron's jaw back into place.

"Kim! You're na-na-na …"

She placed her right index finger over his lips to quiet him.

"Yes, Ron, I _am_."

Ron reached up with both hands but Kim gently blocked them with hers, intertwining her fingers with his, then pushed them back down.

"Ah, ahh, ahhh! You can _looky_, but n-o-o _touchy_!"

"Awww, man! Why _not_?"

"Ron, you _know_ why not. You and I were in the same Human Sexuality class together last year, and as I recall, you paid _very close attention_ during that particular lecture."

"But…"

"Ron, I _know_ how much we love each other, but are we ready to take that next step? Once we _start_, where do we _stop_, and will either of us have the strength to say "no" before we go _all the way_? Are you ready to accept the consequences, to take on the responsibilities, if we _conceived_?"

"No… _no way_."

"I _know_ you're not, and _I'm_ not _either_. I think we _both_ know when the right time will come. Until then, we have to support each other, standing firm _with_ and maybe sometimes even _against_ each other if need be. There are _plenty_ of ways we can share our love without taking that next step."

"But then why _this_?"

"Ron, _this_ is something I've thought and prayed about all summer and decided I'd do sometime, probably this school year. I just didn't know _when_ to do it. After what happened last night, and, I'll admit, after finding out about this blonde bombshell genius Mary, I felt that _this_ was the right time."

"Kim, I don't know what to _say_."

"You don't have to say _anything_, Ron. The expression on your face when you opened your eyes said _all I needed to_ _know_."

"I guess I _still_ don't quite get it, KP."

"Ron, I want you to _remember_ this any time you're weak or struggling or even tempted, by this Mary or anyone else. What you see _now_ is something you can store up here (she tapped her index finger on his forehead) to look forward to when the time comes. This (she drew her hands together, and then stretched out her arms wide to her sides and down) is being saved for _you_ and you _alone_."

And so, believe it or not, after twenty-two chapters and an epilogue containing close to fifty-two thousand words written over a period of six months, that's all folks!

It has definitely been a learning experience. I realized early on that I had bitten off w-a-y more than I could chew for a newbie first fanfic, but by then it was too late.

Looking back at the goals I set for myself at the beginning of Chapter One, I feel I achieved the first (introducing a degree of realism) and the third (having lots of fun). As for the second, well, let's just say there's room for improvement.

So, where do I go from here? Either by design or by happy accident, I've left myself all sorts of loose threads and moseying plot turtles to work with in the future. I do intend to keep things more or less chronological (allowing for flashbacks, of course) simply because it will make it easier for me to (hopefully) avoid major continuity goofs.

Two story threads that _will_ be dealt with are Kim's "simulation" with Dr. Director and Raquel's arrival/Mary Zimmerman's visit to Middleton. The remainder I'm hoping to address as time and energy permit.

A sincere "Thank you!!!" for staying around all the way through this newbie's first story and an extra "Thanks!!!" for everyone who took the time to write reviews and/or e-mails offering compliments, encouragement and suggestions.


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